Boris Vasilyevich Batura (also transliterated as Barys Batura; born 28 July 1947) is a Belarusian politician. He has served in a number of notable roles in Belarus, including as Speaker of the Council of the Republic from 2008 to 2010 and Chairman of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee from 2010 to 2013. Born in

Vawkavysk Vawkavysk or Volkovysk is a town in Grodno Region, in western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vawkavysk District. It is located on the and rivers, roughly from the city of Grodno and from Minsk, the national capital. As o ...

in the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...

, Batura graduated in 1970 from

Belarusian National Technical University Belarusian National Technical University (BNTU) is a major technical university in Belarus. History * 1920 – establishment of ''Belarusian State Polytechnic Institute'' on the basis of a ''Minsk Polytechnic school''. * 1922 – reorganised ...

(BTNU) with a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. Afterwards, he served in numerous roles in the Grodno Regional Executive Committee while simultaneously rising through the ranks of the Ministry of Housing and Communal Service. He eventually became Minister of Housing and Communal Services in 1990, a position he held until 1999, where he notably helped pass the Law on Privatization of the Housing Fund. Afterward, he served as Chairman of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee until 2008, where he was widely credited with reversing economical hardships and attracting foreign investment - most of which as Russian. Nominated by

Gennady Novitsky Gennady Vasilievich Novitsky (born January 2, 1949) is a Belarusian politician, born in Mogilev. He was a Deputy Prime Minister from 1997 to 2001. He has held various positions including the position as the 5th Prime Minister of Republic of Belar ...

by to be Speaker of the Council of Republics on 31 October 2008, he was appointed soon after with no discourse. He had previously been a member of the Council in the second and third convocations. In this role, he rejected European calls for the

abolition of the death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

in Belarus, and notably received a delegation from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, which he called Belarus's most important partner in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. It was announced on 20 May 2010 that Batura would become Chairman of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee. In this role he led a rise in the development of the private sector of Minsk, including major investment projects in mining, Chinese facilities like the China–Belarus Industrial Park which was approved for $5 billion in 2011, and a joint Swiss-Belarusian electric train venture. He was abruptly fired on 8 November 2013 for not overseeing modernization efforts at Borisovdrev timber mill, which led him to retire from politics. Since then he had led the organization "Twin Cities", which works with the international

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

movements to promote Belarusian cities abroad, particularly in Russia.

Early life

Batura was born on 28 July 1947 in

in Grodno Region of the

. In 1970 he graduated from the

with a degree in

. Prior to 1973, he worked as a shop foreman, process engineer, and was head of the technical control department UZH-15/11 of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee. From 1973 to 1979 he was Head of the Volkovysk Combine of Utilities, another department of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee. Then, form 1979 to 1983, he was Deputy Head of the Department of Housing and Communal Services alongside the Department of Mechanics and Energy in Grodno. He rose through the ranks of the Housing Department to become First Deputy Head then Head of the department by 1987. In 1987 he became Deputy Minister of Housing and Communal Service of the BSSR and Deputy Chairman of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee, positions he held until his appointment as minister in 1990.

Political career

Minister of Housing and Communal Services

In 1990, he became Minister of Housing and Communal Services. His main project as Minister of Housing was the development of the Law on Privatization of the Housing Fund, which transferred housing from state to private ownership and was adapted in 1993. In June 1999 he officially left the position. Briefly afterwards he was the Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus from 28 June 1999 to November 2000.

Chairman of Mogilev

From November 2000, he was Chairman of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee. He was widely credited with reversing economical hardships in Mogilev, making it have good economic performance and attract foreign investors, most of whom are Russian. Some of the foreign investment projects he helped bring to Mogilev, which would later go nationwide, include Servolux, Syabar, Old Fortress, and Belatmit. He left the post in order to become speaker on 31 October 2008. For his work in Mogilev, he was given the highest reward - an honorary diploma - by Valery Ilyankov who was head of the work department and Batura stated that he wished it would become the best city in the future.

Speaker of the Council of Republics

On 31 October 2008 he was nominated to be Speaker of the Council of Republics by

, and was appointed to the position later that day with no discourse. He had previously been a member of the Council in the second and third convocations. He was appointed a member of the Standing Committee on Regional Policy and Local Self-Government during his time in the Council of the Republic. He rejected calls for the

, saying that many citizens believed in it for serious crimes. He proposed a series of preparatory measures instead, including forming and monitoring public opinion about the death penalty. He also welcomed a delegation from

, with Batura meeting

Ali Larijani Ali Ardashir Larijani (born 3 June 1958) is an Iranian politician and former military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Iran from 2008 to 2020. He has been a member of the Expediency ...

and

Manouchehr Mottaki Manouchehr Mottaki (; born 12 May 1953) is an Iranian politician and diplomat who currently is a member of the Parliament of Iran representing Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat, Eslamshahr and Pardis since 2024. He was the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affai ...

, and he stated that there should be close integration between the two nations. Batura also said that Iran was the country's most important partner in the Middle East. On 20 May 2010, he stepped down as chairman to become Chairman of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee.

Chairman of Minsk

On 20 May 2010, it was announced that Batura would become Chairman of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee, which was described as unexpected due to the fact he had been with Mogilev for a long time. A primary focus of his administration was in mining, with him helping persuade two major investment projects: a chemical plant for raw minerals and another for the production of NPK fertilizers. The construction of the $5 billion China–Belarus Industrial Park in

Smolevichi Smalyavichy or Smolevichi is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Smalyavichy District. It is situated on the Plisa River (a tributary of the Berezina).Borisov for the assembly of cars. He also focused on the

livestock industry Livestock are the domesticated animals that are raised in an agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to ...

in Minsk, particularly in creating

pig breeding Pig farming, pork farming, pig production or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork: bacon, ham, gammon) and skins. Pigs a ...

complexes instead of small farms. Another major project was the assembly of electric trains in a joint Belarusian-Swiss venture by

Belkommunmash OJSC "Holding Management Company "Belkommunmash" (, Belkamunmash), is a Belarusian manufacturer of electric public transport vehicles. The enterprise was based on a tram and trolleybus repair facility which was opened in 1973. Today it is the lead ...

Holding Management Company and

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail AG is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an original emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams, but moving also into Rapid transit, mass rapid transit, High-speed rail, high speed, Inter-city rail, interci ...

Group. He was abruptly fired on 8 November 2013, a day after Lukashenko took a tour of the Borisovdrev timber mill, which had not been gone through with modernization efforts after a year, and Lukashenko said Batura should instead run the factory. Batura refused to run the mill and said he was going into an early retirement. Soon after he criticized Lukashenko, saying he was ready to be arrested and that "we are not free people anyway".

Other activities

From 1999 to 2013 he headed the Volleyball Federation of Belarus, which he left following his firing as Chairman of the Minsk Executive Committee. He was appointed honorary chairman afterwards, and was succeeded by Valyantsin Shayeu. In the past he was also Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, Chairman of the

Eurasian Economic Community The Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC or EurAsEC) was a regional organisation between 2000 and 2014 which aimed for the economic integration of its member states. The organisation originated from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) o ...

, a member of the assembly of the CIS, and a member of the Council of the

Collective Security Treaty Organization The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, ) is an Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Th ...

. After leaving his political positions, he continued as Chairman of the Belarusian organization "Twin Cities" which he held since 28 December 2010. Twin Cities helps the development of the international

movements, with the organization's particular focus being on promoting Belarusian cities abroad. He has worked in this role to bring mutual cooperation in the relationship between Russia and Belarus. He also became a member of the board of directors of a mining and drilling operation called Soligorsk JSC "Trust Shakhtospetsstroy" and a member of the Council of Elders. The Council of Elders was recently created in December 2020 for former members of the Council of the Republic to discuss the socio-economic development of Belarus.

Personal life

Batura lives in

Drazdy Drazdy (, ) is a microdistrict in north-west Minsk where many top state officials lived during the Soviet times and today, including the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. See also *Drazdy conflict The Drazdy conflict (sometimes spelled ...

, an elite village in the outskirts of

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

. More than 100 representatives close to Lukashenko live in the village, and based off the pricing of the houses his net income is at least $1 million. According to a 2012 interview with the state-owned CTV channel he drives to work himself, has a salary of about $14 million, and his only hobby is

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. Batura is married.

Honors and awards

National orders

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

(1986) * Order of the Fatherland, III degree (21 November 2001) * Order of Honour (29 July 2004) * Certificate of Honor of the Government of Moscow (10 December 2004) * Order of the Fatherland, II degree (30 August 2007) * IPA CIS 25 Years ( CIS; 27 March 2017) * Honorary citizen of

Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...

(2008)

Ecclesial orders

* Order of Saint Cyril of Turov (

Belarusian Orthodox Church The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; , ) is the official name of the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. It represents the union of Eparchies and Metropolitanates of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox eparchies in the ...

; 2007) * Order of Glory and Honor, III degree (

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

; 2013) * Order of the Venerable Euphrosyne of Polotsk (

; 2017)

References

Belarusian politicians Living people 1947 births Belarusian engineers Speakers of the Council of the Republic of Belarus People from Vawkavysk 20th-century Belarusian politicians 21st-century Belarusian politicians Government ministers of Belarus {{DEFAULTSORT:Batura, Boris Vasilyevich