By Victor Andreev
Roads, berths and camps are to be built alongside the canal, with the park divided into four zones: for families, entertaining, sport and relaxation. Six thousand hectares have been set aside for the purpose, with investors to enjoy a 70 percent lower tax burden (for projects worth at least 200,000 Euros).
The state border also expects much change, with residents of a 50km radius to be offered simplified travel rules. New border checkpoints are also planned near the canal.
Further development of the Avgustovsky Canal’s infrastructure using Chinese investments has been recently disucssed in Grodno involving city regional authorities.
Meanwhile, businessmen are ready to realise 12 investment projects in the Braslav Lakes region. A Latvian company plans to open a VIP hotel near the entrance to the city of Braslav, by Lake Drivyaty; an investment agreement has already been signed with the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. An entertainment complex and a 3D cinema are planned, as is another hotel — with a restaurant situated beneath its dome (to be constructed by a Minsk businessman).
Many Russians are already purchasing property and are leasing land in the Braslav District, with the aim of building guesthouses. The Director of the Tourism Department at the Sports and Tourism Ministry, Vadim Karmazin, tells us, “We aren’t just seeing ‘redistribution’ of property. Russian investors are ready to inject money into building new tourist sites and into reconstructing neglected buildings.”
Next season, more recreational sites by the water are to be built, raising the attractiveness of the countryside as a holiday destination for Belarusians and foreign guests.
