VITEBSK, 28 June (BelTA) – More than 60 roadside facilities will be put into operation in the Vitebsk Oblast this year, BelTA learnt from the transport and communications department of the Vitebsk oblast executive committee. January-May saw the commissioning of 7 facilities, including 3 filling stations and four cafes. Other facilities are scheduled to come on stream in third or fourth quarters. The investors are individual entrepreneurs, private companies and regional consumers’ cooperation societies, and Vitebskoblnefteprodukt company. For example, Vitebskavtodor is busy retrofitting the building of the post office, a species of the early 19th century architecture, into a hotel in the village of Kuzmino, Gorodok region, on the international motorway Russia’s border-Vitebsk-Gomel- Ukraine’s border. The Vitebsk oblast is ranked second in the country in terms of the length of national motorways (19.2% of the total length). But the density of roadside facilities is 59 units per 1,000 kilometers while the nationwide index averages 109 units per 1,000 kilometers. Filling stations and cafes account for 33.5% and 31.2% respectively of the total number of roadside service facilities. To reach the international standards, there is a need to build 30 filling stations, 30 service stations and more than 40 cafes and hotels.

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