The Garden of Stones in Minsk

Minsk sightseeings

There is one place on the outskirts of Minsk that is not very famous even among Minsk residents but it is definitely a must-see. This place is the Museum of Boulders in the Uruchie district. More than 2 thousand boulders were brought to one place in the mid-1980s and now it is one of two museums of such kind in Europe. Lithuania has a similar “stone garden” but it is twice smaller and doesn’t have a systematic approach. So one can even say that Minsk Boulders Museum is unique. It is also an unusual park recreation area.

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NBB keeps the refinancing rate stable

Belarus finance system

The refinance rate has not been changed in November, and the devaluation of the Belarusian ruble by the National Bank is not planned at the moment.

“Today we have such a situation that there is no possibility to reduce the re-finance rate. This situation does not allow such a step, so we neither reduce the rate, nor increase it,” reported at the press conference on November 21 Nadezhda Ermakova, the Chairwoman of The National Bank of Belarus

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Visitors of Minsk prefer economy-class rooms

Minsk hotels

The number of hotels in Minsk will have increased to 62 by 2016.

On November 1th, there were 29 hotels in Minsk. Two of these hotels ("Oktyabrskaya " and "Belarus") are being reconstructed now. This information has been given during a press conference by the Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee Vladimir Koltovich.

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New kids in the banking block

Mergers and acquisitions in banking

In the following six months in the Belarusian banking sector, several credit institutions will merge, while others find new owners. Currently, very likely that Alfa Bank will buy Belrosbank.

"Every week, representatives of the Moscow office of Alfa-Bank are in Minsk, doing  something like due diligence of Belrosbank. They said they will close a deal in the end of the year" - a source close to the management of Alfa Bank said. On his opinion, Rosbank for long time wanted to get rid of assets in Belarus under the pressure of the main shareholder of French’s Societe Generale.

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Fight and then reconcile

Oil dispute between Belarus and Russia

The problem of Russian oil delivery to Belarus in the fourth quarter seems settled. On November 2 meeting of the Council of Ministers of Belarus First Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko, who just returned from Moscow, said that Belarus should receive 5.3 million tons before the end of the year, and the annual volume of imported oil is expected to reach 21.5 million tons, as provided the fuel and energy balance of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. However, the issue of oil supply in 2013 is not yet resolved.

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