16:00 Belarus to export drinking water

The Belarus's Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment Protection is developing a program aimed to start exporting the locally-bottled drinking water, said Minister Liavocij Charuzyk. The state-sponsored concern Beldziarzcharcpram has been approved as an implementing agency. According to Charuzyk, experts are currently trying to identify the available reserves of the drinking water, which could be used without a preliminary processing.

During the second stage of the project, the identified reserves will be classified in terms of quality. Afterwards, export volume can be planned. The program is expected to be presented to the government by the end of this year.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says Belarus takes use of only 3-3.5 percent of the total fresh water resources, according to Interfax.