Modern Brest

15/03/2013 13:03

Brest is 983
Population - 286400
Area - 7290 ha (1/6 - greenspace)
Streets and lanes - 450
Bridges - 16 (total length 1943 m)
Industrial enterprises - 50
Bus routes - 26, trolley bus routes - 8
Shops - 806, cafes - 39, restaurants - 11

Encircled by a green belt (2500 ha), Brest is located in the southwest of the Republic of Belarus bordering Poland and the Ukraine.

Brest enterprises make up a quarter of the industrial potential of the region. Many countries purchase the products of the joint-stock companies "Brestgazoapparat" and "Carpets of Brest", the integrated hosiery factory, the knitting factory "Elma", the clothing factory "Nadzeya", the electric bulb plant and the distillery, the machine building amalgamation, the souvenir factory, the furniture factory.

20 suburban and over 70 long distance trains pass daily through the railway station. Railway traffic across the border with Poland is controlled by Brest Customs. About 100 suburban and international buses leave daily the bus station. One of the major European highways Berlin-Warsaw-Moscow passes through the city.

Two major border control posts "Varshavsky Most" and "Kozlovichi" service motor vehicles crossing the Belarusian-Polish border. Two customs terminals handle heavy hauliers, and a third one, "Kozlovichi-2", is under construction.

The River Port provides for transportation of cargoes to the Black Sea via the Dnieper-Bug Canal and the Pina River.

Brest trading enterprises are noted for their high standards of service. An agricultural market, a car market, 2 merchandise markets and 3 mini-markets are functioning in the city. Seasonal fairs are held on a regular basis. About 200 temporary sale outlets are organised in summer.

In 1993 Brest was the first city in Belarus to implement the auction model of privatisation of municipal facilities. The first in the Republic free economic zone "Brest" (FEZ "Brest") was set up here. Over 90 resident enterprises function in its territory at present. In 1998 the Brest region joined the trans-border association "Euroregion Bug" formed in September 1995. As of today, the Volyn region of the Ukraine and the Lublin province of the Republic of Poland are members of this association.

The education system includes 77 pre-school facilities attended by 15 thousand children, 35 general education schools, 4 higher schools, a lyceum (50 thousand young Berestians are studying and 3.5 thousand teachers are working there). Among them there are schools with economic, musical and choral, artistic, and general aesthetic bias, with profound foreign language teaching (English, German, French, Spanish), a choreographic school, and 2 secondary music schools.

The secondary special schools: the Polytechnic and Railway Technical Schools, the technical vocational schools, and the music college are attended by 4700 students. 10 thousand students study at Brest State University, the Polytechnic Institute, the Commercial Institute of Economics and Law, and the branches of the Republican Institutes of Management and Modern Knowledge.

The public health service is represented by 28 medical and disease prevention institutions (with a bed capacity of 3270) where 2.3 thousand doctors and 5 thousand medium-level medical workers are employed.

Physical culture and sports play an important role in the life of the city. 4000 schoolchildren attend 18 youth sport schools. The Sport Complex “Olymp”, an athletic hall, a rowing canal, 2 sports and sanitation complexes, 3 stadiums, 9 covered swimming pools, and 100 gymnasiums offer their facilities. A big riding-hall and a sport palace are under construction.

Brest museums have been acknowledged far beyond the borders of the Republic. The memorial "Brest Fortress Hero" is the most famous, immortalising the memory of the soldiers of the garrison who heroically resisted the ‘invincible’ Hitlerite army in June and July 1941.

The remains of 224 wooden structures of the 13th century encapsulated in a marquee of glass and concrete in the Berestye Museum are archaeological and ethnographical values of world-wide significance.

The collection of ancient icons, paintings, and household articles in the Museum of Saved Artistic Valuables might adorn the world’s best galleries.

The regional Museum of Local Lore and its branches - the Museum of the City History, the Motherland Nature Museum and the Cosmos Museum - also keep many rarity exhibits.

The Theatre of Drama and Music, the Puppet Theatre and 6 cinemas are functioning in the city; the International Theatre Festival "Belaya Vezha" and the Belarusian national film festivals are held here periodically.

The consulates of the Russian Federation, the Ukraine and the Republic of Poland in Brest consolidate the co-operation of people in practice. The brotherhood ties with Orel (Russia), Lutsk (the Ukraine), Weingarten, Ravensburg (Germany), Saint-Nicholas (Belgium), Biala Podliaska, Lublin (Poland), Sao Gan (China) and Pleven (Bulgaria) are further strengthening.

The cordiality and friendly sociability of the Berestians, their purposefulness and spirit of enterprise, the city location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia provide for a reliable basis of progress in all spheres of life and for development of durable and long-term international relations.