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25 March 2017, 14:24

World Bank to help restore Belarusian forests after hurricanes

MINSK, 25 March (BelTA) – The World Bank will help Belarus raise funds from international organizations for the sake of restoring Belarusian forests after summer hurricanes of 2016. The matters were discussed as Belarusian Forestry Minister Mikhail Amelyanovich met with World Bank specialists, the press service of the Forestry Ministry told BelTA. The World Bank specialists were led by World Bank Project Team Leader Andrew Mitchell.

The World Bank specialists visited a number of Belarusian forestry enterprises where they saw the operation of the forest fire prevention systems and forest harvesters, which had been acquired as part of the forestry development project. Andrew Mitchell praised the work the Belarusian side had done: “We see that the allocated funds have been wisely spent and all the acquired machines are actively used and perfectly maintained.”

The World Bank representatives also visited several windbreak sites. Andrew Mitchell noted the speed of the cleanup effort after the summer hurricanes. “We expected it to take several years,” he said.

The World Bank specialists described the quality of the forestry development project's implementation as moderately satisfactory. Andrew Mitchell remarked that the evaluation can be upgraded to satisfactory. The specialist explained that it is one of the highest evaluations in their book, few projects have such a status. The allocation of additional funds for building forest nurseries is under consideration. The work has turned out to cost a lot more than what the Forestry Ministry expected. Another $14 million is needed to finish the work. Andrew Mitchell pledged his support for discussing the matter with the World Bank leadership. At the same time the extra funds represent in essence another loan with a lengthy approval process inside the country. Besides, the money can be granted only in 2018 when a new operation period starts. The sides concluded they would work on the matter to accelerate the allocation of the funds.

Belarusian Forestry Minister Mikhail Amelyanovich noted that although Belarusian forestry enterprises spend heavily on restoring Belarusian forests after last year's hurricanes, the country needs assistance of international organizations. Andrew Mitchell assured that the World Bank will attempt to raise funds in the form of grants for restoring Belarusian forests.

The next visit of World Bank specialists to Belarus is scheduled for September-October 2017.

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