Miory Regional Executive Committee
At the extended out-of-session meeting of the Presidium of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus held in Uschachy, the work on handling citizens' appeals received from residents of the Vitebsk region, particularly during the recently held unified day of parliamentary receptions, is being reviewed.
As Natalia Kochanova noted, the statistics regarding citizens' appeals in the Vitebsk region are quite positive. The number of complaints has decreased significantly.
– You know how much attention is paid to working with citizens' appeals. At the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, addressing the parliament, the President said: we must first and foremost carefully engage with people. This was his main message to the country's parliamentary corps. This applies not only to the parliament but to all deputies. Careful attention, knowledge of problems, understanding what people live through, and which issues need to be resolved at a given stage of our development – these are fundamental for us.
The Speaker of the upper chamber of Parliament drew attention to the fact that the work plan for draft laws for 2026 has been approved, including the project "On Amending the Law of the Republic of Belarus 'On Citizens' and Legal Entities' Appeals'".
– To be honest, in our country this work is structured quite clearly. We understand the task, the periodicity of holding citizens' receptions, and know how to work with appeals today. But sometimes there is simply a lack of attentive engagement with people. At the last citizens' reception held on February 4, I confirmed this. When people start asking questions, I realize that we have not reached them. Neither the deputies nor the representatives of power have reached them. We have not highlighted certain information in local newspapers or on television to ensure clarity, – Natalia Kochanova emphasized.
The Head of the Main Directorate for Healthcare of the Regional Executive Committee, Mikhail Vishnevetsky, noted that the number of appeals concerning the operation of the sector in the Vitebsk region is limited. This is the result of targeted work.
– During the year, the heads of the Main Administration conducted 56 personal receptions, and a telephone hotline operates on weekdays. At the top of the list of the most pressing appeals are those that in one way or another relate to human resources. This is natural, as the quality of assistance directly depends on personnel potential. Over the past five years, doctor staffing levels have increased by 3%, and mid-level medical personnel by 2%. Medical care provision per 10,000 residents has also grown by 2% since 2020. However, the Vitebsk Region lags behind other regions of the Republic. Therefore, we are paying attention to the retention of medical personnel at their initial workplaces and reducing staff turnover. Specialist recruitment through targeted training programs takes place annually. The number of targeted places has been significantly increased. An evening training program for nurses has been established, and since 2022, student intake based on completion of nine grades of secondary education has been carried out, – Mikhail Vishnevetskiy explained.
Each citizen appeal is not merely a letter or an electronic petition. It is a direct appeal by a person to the state with the hope of being heard, – noted Alexey Geroev, Chairman of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee.
– Therefore, today we set ourselves the task not merely to respond to appeals, but to establish a system of effective functioning of the state administration vertical, where responsiveness to citizens' requests will serve as the key indicator. The subject matter of appeals received by the City Executive Committee covers a broad spectrum of issues. The overwhelming majority pertains to the housing and public utilities sector. During 2025, city residents submitted 1,887 such appeals, accounting for nearly 60% of the total volume, – Alexey Geroev explained.
The analysis made it possible to identify the most problematic areas. A significant portion of appeals related to the housing and public utilities sector concerns the repair, operation, and maintenance of the housing stock. These are often driven by objective factors. Indeed, approximately 40% of the engineering networks located in the basements of residential buildings in the city of Vitebsk exhibit elevated wear levels, which leads to frequent emergencies and basement flooding.
– Taking this into account, the city is implementing the “Podval” program. Within its framework, during the past year, work was carried out on routine repair and replacement of engineering and small networks in 76 multi-apartment residential buildings, – continued the Chairman of the City Executive Committee.