Pavel Borodin suggests that Vitebsk should become Union State capital

Vitebsk should become the capital of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, State Secretary of the Union State Pavel Borodin said at a press conference that opened the Union State Day at the 17th international arts festival Slavonic Bazaar in Vitebsk on July 13. The Union State Day has been held at the festival since 2003 and became an integral part of the programme of the Slavonic forum. There is no wonder it became traditional– every year the Union State allocates about $1 million for the organization of the festival. Pavel Borodin admitted that this money is not enough for holding such a prestigious and popular festival, the more so as the amount of this money has not changed over the last five years. This is why, the Union State will drastically increase the financing of Slavonic Bazaar in Vitebsk in 2009.