Экономика Республики Беларусь
Study the words and word-combinations.
| grain | хлебные злаки |
| heavy machinery | тяжёлое машиностроение |
| heavy-duty truck | сверхмощный грузовой автомобиль |
| hog | свинья |
| in short supply | дефицитный |
| incentive | стимул |
| instrument making | приборостроение |
| joint-stock company | акционерное общество |
| large-capacity dump truck | крупнотоннажный самосвал |
| limestone | известняк |
| limited-liability company | компания с ограниченной имущественной ответственностью |
| livestock breeding | племенное животноводство |
| livestock farming | животноводство |
| lowland | низина, долина |
| machine building | машиностроение |
| marsh | болото |
| meadow | луг |
| merchandise | товары |
| merger | слияние, объединение |
| metal-cutting tools | металлорежущий станки |
| mining | горное дело |
| miscellaneous | разнообразный |
| mulch | мульчировать |
| oats | овёс |
| oil refining | перегонка нефти |
| pasture | пастбище |
| peat | торф |
| petrochemicals | нефтехимические продукты |
| pipeline | трубопровод, нефтепровод |
| plywood | фанера |
| potash | углекислый калий |
| potassium | калий |
| pursuit | профессия |
| raise | выращивать (растения); разводить (птицу, скот) |
| reclaim | осушать |
| recover | извлекать |
| rolled | листовой, прокатный |
| rye | рожь |
| securities | ценные бумаги |
| sheep | овца, баран |
| sidewalk | тротуар |
| soda ash | сода |
| stock exchange | фондовая биржа |
| strike out | сражаться |
| subway system | метро |
| sugar beet | сахарная свекла |
| sunflower | подсолнечник |
| swamp | болото |
| synthetic resin | синтетическая пластмасса |
| timber processing | деревообработка |
| underpaid | низкооплачиваемый |
| unland | гористая часть станы |
| wheat | пшеница |
| wood product | изделия из дерева |
Answer these questions before you read the text below.
1) Where is Belarus situated?
2) What are the country’s main regions?
3) How does Belarus rank among the countries of the world in population and area?
4) In what part of Belarus does the vast majority of population live?
5) What are some of the reasons why Belarus changed from a rural nation to an urban nation?
6) Which nationality groups make up the largest percentage of the total population?
7) What are the two official languages of Belarus?
8) When did Belarus proclaimed its independence?
9) What is the official name of the Belarusian Parliament?
10) Who is the country’s president at the moment?
11) Who is the head of the government in Belarus nowadays?
12) What is the most highly developed sector of the Belarusian economy?
13) What are some of the leading agricultural products in Belarus?
14) What nations are main trading partners of Belarus?
15) What are the major problems facing Belarus today?
16) Why did the government enact reforms?
2. Scan through the text [8, с. 6—20].
Belorussian Economy
Approximately 5.3 million people contribute to the economy of Belarus. Of this total, 42 percent are employed in industry; 21 percent in agriculture and forestry; 17 percent in culture, education, and health services; 7 percent in transportation, and 6 percent in miscellaneous pursuits.
Natural resources
Belarus is relatively poor in terms of natural resources. It does not have vast amounts of most of the minerals used in modern industrial production. The country has small reserves of petroleum and natural gas.
In the south-west there are small reserves of hard coal, brown coal, and petroleum, but they are not easily accessible and remain undeveloped. The country has large forest reserves. About one-third of the republic is covered in forest.
Belarus does possess, however, one of the world's largest reserves of potassium salts — discovered in 1949 south of Minsk and exploited from the 1960s around the new mining town and fertilizer-manufacturing centre of Soligorsk. Although exports of potash to other former Soviet republics declined significantly in the 1990s, exports to the countries remained at a high level.
The country also is a world leader in the production of peat, which is especially abundant in the Pripyat Marshes. Peat is used as a mulching material in agriculture. In briquette form it is used as fuel.
Among the other minerals recovered are salt, building materials, chiefly limestone and, near Grodno, quartz sands for glassmaking, both used locally; and small deposits of gold and diamonds.
Belarus is heavily reliant on oil and gas supplies from Russia. These fuel imports reach Belarus via two major pipelines: the Friendship Pipeline carrying oil, and the Natural Lights Pipeline carrying natural gas. Belarus remains dependent on Russia for most of its energy and fossil-fuel requirements.
Energy
Belarus generates only about 16 percent of its own energy needs. Nearly all electricity is generated at thermal power stations using piped oil and natural gas; however, there is some local use of peat, and there are a number of low-capacity hydroelectric power plants.
Industry
Belarus is a highly developed industrial country. The main industries include machine building, instrument making, chemicals, timber processing, textile and clothing manufacture, and food processing.
Manufacturing contributes most of the country's industrial output. The country is known for its heavy-duty trucks, transport vehicles, and tractors. Belarus also manufactures computers, engineering equipment, metal-cutting tools, and such consumer goods as clocks and watches, motorcycles, bicycles, refrigerators, radios, television sets and others.
Heavy industry is the most highly developed sector of the economy. Machine-building industry is mostly concentrated in Minsk. It makes various types of tractors, heavy-duty trucks, other heavy machinery and electrical equipment. Minsk's satellite town, Zhodzino, produces large-capacity dump trucks.
Chemical industry produces chemical fibers, mineral fertilizes, petrol-chemicals, and plastics. The chief chemical product is potassium fertilizer.
The Minsk area is Belarus’ leading manufacturing centre. Its factories produce chemicals, electrical equipment, electronics, motor vehicles, processed foods, and textiles. Metal processing and machinery production are important in Moghilyov and Gomel. Most oil refining takes place in the Novopolotsk and Mozyr regions. Light industry, particularly textile production, is centered in Brest and Vitebsk.
Agriculture
Agriculture accounts for about a seventh of Belarus’ economic output. Belarus has a large amount of farmland. But a short growing season and a lack of fertile soil make farming difficult. But a short growing season and a lack of fertile soil make farming difficult. Most of Belarus has soils of only moderate fertility, but the better-drained upland can be productive with fertilizer application. Considerable areas of the swampy lowlands have been drained since the late 19th century, with much of the reclaimed land being used for fodder crops.
Most of the country has mixed crop and livestock farming, with a strong emphasis on flax growing. The country’s principal crops are potatoes, grains (especially wheat, barley, oats and rye), flax, sunflowers, vegetables and sugar beets. Nearly 60 percent of the country’s land area is cultivated. Arable land accounts for about 30 percent of the country’s land use, and meadows and pastures account for 15 percent. The 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl' nuclear power station in Ukraine contaminated much of the soil in southern Belarus, reducing the country's total area of arable land by more than 10 percent. Livestock breeding is another main component of agriculture. Cattle, hogs, and sheep are the most important livestock raised in the country.
The agricultural sector in Belarus is dominated by large state and collective farms. State farms operate like government factories, called sovkhozy. Workers in sovkhozy receive wages. Collective farms called kolkhozy are government-controlled but managed in part by farmers.
In 1993 private farms began to appear. But these farms included only a tiny percentage of farmland. New laws called for the breakup of unprofitable government farms and for more aid to farmers who wished to strike out on their own. Nevertheless, the transition to private farms proved to be slow and difficult.
Services
Service industries are industries that produce services not goods. In the recent past these industries were undeveloped in Belarus. Most service-industry workers were poorly trained and underpaid. They had little incentive to satisfy their customers, who competed for services that were in short supply. Today private economic activity is flourishing. Many individuals and families are starting small businesses such as restaurants, barber-shops, dry cleaners and taxi services. Nevertheless, this sector of the economy remains largely underdeveloped.
Finance
Independent Belarus restructured its banking system into a system consisting of the National Bank of Belarus and a number of commercial banks, most of which are either joint-stock or limited-liability companies. A securities market and stock exchange were also established. The republic introduced its own currency, the Belarusian ruble, in 1994. The central bank is the National Bank of Belarus in Minsk.
Foreign Trade
A great amount of goods produced by Belarusian industries and agriculture is oriented towards the CIS countries' markets. Russia, Poland and Ukraine remain the republic's main trading partners, with trade increasing with Germany and Italy. Belarus also conducts trade with Austria, China, Great Britain, Lithuania, Switzerland, the United States and other countries. Belarus exports tractors and trucks, machinery, refrigerators, television sets, chemicals, potassium fertilizers, wood and paper products, and meat and dairy products. About 60 percent of Belarus’ exports go to former Soviet republics. The major exports include tractors to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and many other countries.
The nation’s major imports include petroleum, natural gas, industrial raw materials, textiles, rolled metal, rubber, sugar and some consumer goods. Fuel is Belarus' largest import expenditure. Russia, which supplies most of the country’s fuel imports, is the most important trading partner.
In 1992 Belarus became a member of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Bank Reconstruction and Development.
Transportation
Belarus has an extensive transportation system, including railroad and highway networks. Airplanes are Belarus' most important means of long-distance travel. Belarus has several international airports, the largest of which is Minsk-2, located about 50 km east of its capital. Minsk-2 serves airlines from Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Poland and other countries. Belavia is a Belarus' national airline. The country's railway network headed by major interregional railways crisscross the country: east-west between Berlin, Warsaw, and Moscow; north-south between St. Petersburg and Kiev; and northwest-southeast between the Baltic countries and Ukraine. The major railroad, which was built in the 1860s to connect Moscow and Warsaw, runs through Belarus via Minsk and Brest. Rivers and the Dnieper-Bug Canal also serve as transportation routes. The Dnieper-Bug Canal and other canals improve water transportation by linking many of the rivers with ports on the Baltic and Black Seas. Public transportation is modem and inexpensive, but crowded. Buses, trams, and trolley-buses operate in the cities. Minsk has a clean, efficient subway system. The use of automobiles is increasing, but it remains small in comparison with other developed nations.
3. Match the words listed below with the definitions that follow.
| Supermarket, expenditure, workforce, farmland, livestock, currency, inflation, meadow, industry, security, imports, exports, partner, pasture, upland, output, crop, soil. |
1) The produce of cultivated plants, esp. cereals, vegetable, and fruit.
2) A metal or paper medium of exchange that is in current use in a particular country.
3) Something expended, such as time or money.
4) Goods (visible exports) or services (invisible exports) sold to a foreign country or countries.
5) Land used or suitable for farming.
6) Goods (visible imports) or services (invisible imports) that are bought from foreign countries.
7) Organized economic activity concerned with manufacture, extraction and processing of raw materials, or construction.
8) A progressive increase in the general level of prices brought about by an expansion in demand of the money supply or by autonomous increases in costs.
9) Cattle, horses, poultry, and similar animals kept for domestic use but not as pets, esp. on a farm or ranch.
10) An area of grassland, often used for hay or for grazing of animals.
11) The act of production or manufacture.
12) An ally or companion.
13) Land covered with grass or herbage and grazed by or suitable for grazing by livestock.
14) A certificate of creditorship or property carrying the right to receive interest or dividend, such as shares or bonds.
15) The top layer of the land surface of the earth that is composed of disintergrated rock particles, humus, water, and air.
16) A large self-service store retailing food and household supplies.
17) An area of high or relatively high ground.
18) The total number of workers employed by a company on a specific job, project, etc.
4. Complete the sentences with the appropriate terms from the list below.
| agriculture, CIS countries’ markets, energy needs, farming, farmland, forest reserves, heavy industry, industrial output, industrial production, International Monetary Fund, Livestock, monetary systems, potassium salts, service industries, small businesses, trading partner |
1) Minerals are used in modern....
2) The country has large....
3) Belarus possesses one of the world’s largest reserves of ….
4) Belarus generates only about 12 percent of its own....
5) Manufacturing contributes most of the country’s....
6)... is the most highly developed sector of the economy.
7)... accounts for about a seventh of Belarus’ economic output.
8) Belarus has a large amount of....
9) A short growing season and a lack of fertile soil make... difficult.
10) Cattle, hogs, and sheep are the most important... raised in the country.
11)... are industries that produce services, not goods.
12) Many individuals and families are starting....
13) In 1994 Belarus and Russia agreed to the eventual merger of their....
14) A great amount of goods produced by Belarusian industries and agriculture is oriented towards the....
15) Russia, which supplies most of the country’s fuel imports, is the most important.:..
16) In 1992 Belarus became a member of the.....
Complete the following sentences.
1) Belarus has vast amounts of....
2) The country is a world leader in the production of....
3) The most highly developed sector of the economy is....
4) The agricultural sector is dominated by....
5) What factors make farming difficult?....
6) The 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl’ nuclear power station contaminated much of the soil in....
7) The transition to private farms proved to be....
8) The National Bank of Belarus is....
9) A great amount of goods produced by Belarusian and agriculture is oriented towards....
10) Belarus is a member of....
11) Belarus’ most important of long-distance travel are....
12) Public transportation in Belarus is....
True or false.
1) The national economy of Belarus is well-developed.
2) Belarus has vast amounts of most of the minerals used in modern industrial production.
3) The country has large reserves of petroleum and natural gas.
4) The country is a world leader in the production of peat.
5) Belarus is heavily reliant on oil and gas supplies from Russia.
6) Belarus satisfies all its energy needs.
7) Heavy industry is the least developed sector of the economy.
8) The chief chemical product is potassium fertilizer.
9) The Gomel area is Belarus’ leading manufacturing centre.
10) Agriculture accounts for about a half of Belarus’ economic output.
11) Belarus has a large amount of farmland.
12) The agricultural sector in Belarus is dominated by private farms.
13) The transition to private farms proved to be slow and difficult.
14) Service industries are well developed in Belarus.
15) Belarus proper consumes most of the goods produced.
16) Belarus has an extensive transportation system.
17)
7. Answer these questions.
1) What is the gross domestic product of Belarus?
2) What is the level of unemployment in Belarus?
3) Is Belarus rich in natural resources?
4) Does Belarus have most of the minerals used in modern industrial production?
5) The country is a world leader in the production of peat, isn’t it?
6) Does Belarus generate enough energy to satisfy its own energy needs?
7) Is Belarus a highly developed industrial country?
8) What are the main industries of the country?
9) What does Belarus manufacture?
10) What does most oil refining take place in Belarus?
11) What is the share of agriculture in Belarus economic output?
12) What factors make farming difficult in the country?
13) What are the country’s principal crops?
14) How did the explosion at the Chernobyl’ nuclear power station influence the development of agriculture?
15) What are the most important livestock raised in the country?
16) What kinds of farms are there in Belarus?
17) Why were services industries underdeveloped in Belarus?
18) Is private economic activity flourishing in the Republic?
19) What is the structure of the banking system of the country?
20) When did the Republic introduce its own currency?
21) What are the main trade partners of Belarus?
22) What are the nation’s major exports?
23) What does Belarus import?