Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

In today’s Minsk most of street names refer to the Communist period. The streets named after Lenin, Komsomol, Marx, Communism dominate the historical centre of the city founded in 1067.

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union Minsk cultural landscape was one of the most “ ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

Whether you arrive in Minsk from the airport, bus or railway station, one of the first things you notice is abundant construction. You will see construction sites almost everywhere.

New shiny office buildings of glass and concrete grow in the centre. On the outskirts you’ll ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

Although prices in Belarus are as high as in any European country, salaries are very low. The average monthly income is around USD 200, but people still manage to buy food, flats and smart phones. How is it possible to make ends meet with such a low income?

According to the ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

The 22-year-old Belarusian Victoria Azarenka has just defeated Maria Sharapova to win the Australian Open and take over the women's No. 1 tennis ranking.  Very few people know that Sharapova's parents are also from Belarus. They fled their home to escape the fallout from the ( Read more... )

Originally published at Belarus Digest. Please leave any comments there.

Last week, leading Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva announced that in Minsk there will be signposts put up in English and in Russian. This reveals several facts about contemporary Minsk. There are no signposts in English. Putting them up is so extraordinary that they publish an ( Read more... )