| Economic opportunities Overview of the economic potential To a great extent, the economy of the Bragin District has taken its present shape due to a remote location from the major transport ways and markets of the Gomel Region of Belarus. The town of Bragin is located 110 km to the south of the City of Gomel. The motor road of secondary importance Mozyr-Chernigov (Ukraine) goes through the district. The average registered number of employees in the district constitutes 5,722; the total number of unemployed is 136. The economic infrastructure of the Bragin District is represented by: - Small industrial enterprises;
- Agroindustrial enterprises;
- Services and trade companies;
- Enterprises engaged in extraction and processing of natural raw materials.
Industry There is a dormant starch factory in the village of Maleiki (5 km from Bragin). It was put into operation in 1954 and has become outdated and obsolete, and unsuitable for starch production. The butter factory is currently non-operational and requires modernization. Services sector Community services are provided by the local combined enterprise of community services, which is a communal enterprise, employing 72. It provides 10 types of services, however, some of such services, like shoe mending, repair of home appliances, radio and TV sets are available in the town of Rechitsa (60 km from Bragin). Extraction and processing of raw materials The territory of the district includes the Komarin Forestry, which manages state-owned forest resources, including cutting and processing of timber. The forestry employs 173 full-time and 46 seasonal workers. Fixed assets of the forestry are in need of renewal. The enterprise produces wood processing goods (pallets, cylinder poles for vineyards), exported by the Concern "Bellesbumprom" (Belarusian wood and paper enterprises). Entrepreneurship 6 private entrepreneurs engaged in commerce are registered in the district. Two of them are building privately-own shops, for which plots of land have been already allocated. Consumer cooperation The Bragin District consumer society numbers 4,667 members and provides services to 16,869 persons. The economic goal of this organization is to meet material needs and demands both of the members and the entire population of the district. The cooperative society owns: - public catering facility;
- integrated bakery;
- Komarin cooperative trade enterprise;
- construction enterprise;
- fleet of vehicles;
- procurement office;
- market;
- 82 trade enterprises and 22 diners.
The society provides the following services: - retail trade in food and industrial products (including mobile trade in remote communities with no permanent points of sale);
- public catering services;
- making bakery, confectionary and pasta products,
- transport services;
- buying agricultural products and raw materials from population (potato, vegetables, fruits, meat, honey, hide, furs, scrap metal, rags).
Agricultural products are bought from population in small amounts covering, mostly, the needs of the local markets. Population of local communities is not satisfied with the situation since they have no opportunities for selling their products. Private households are ready to sell surplus products through the consumer cooperation network provided they are paid in time. Quality of products and services is low and fails to meet the consumer demand. The society is facing an ever-increasing competition from private entrepreneurs. Before 1990, the district consumer society had a small-size slaughterhouse and a sausage shop, a shop for smoking fish and a shop for making marmalade and jam; later, these shops were closed down and the equipment was transferred to consumer societies of other districts. On the whole, the consumer society needs expansion of the range of services and products it offers, as well as better staffing; all these problems cannot be solved without new investments and improvement of management skills of the key managers. Implementation of small projects requiring limited investments and entailing development of economic initiatives by enterprises of any form of ownership, as well as of private households would be the most appropriate approach keeping in mind the conditions and opportunities of the Bragin District. Such projects would make it possible to - create new jobs;
- increase income of people;
- increases revenues of the local budgets;
- involve skilled personnel; and
- stimulate further development of private households.
In view of the above, it is expedient in the future: - to re-orient livestock producers to beef raising;
- to make emphasis on development of the purchasing and processing infrastructure of the district consumer society;
- to promote private initiatives, especially among rural residents.
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