OREANDA-NEWS. On 16 January 2009 was announced, that Igor Makarov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ITERA Oil and Gas Company, LLC, stated at the Byelorussian Investment Forum in London: "Our plans in Belarus are primarily related to development, a comparatively new area of business for us".

Igor Makarov made a presentation of the Minsk-City, the largest ITERA project in Belarus. ITERA-Invest-Stroi is implementing the Project. The Project to be completed within 12 year is assessed at USD 5 billion.

The Minsk-City is an ultramodern "city within city". It is to be constructed at an area of 318 ha in the center of the capital city of Belarus.  The plan is to construct 3 million sq m of housing and to create a network of social infrastructure facilities, including nine kindergartens and seven schools until 2020. An area of office premises shall be 550 thousand sq m. A shopping and recreational complex shall occupy 200 thousand sq m.

The Minsk-City will enjoy a well-developed transport infrastructure; routes of all kinds of intra-urban traffic will cross it. A new subway line will reach the site. Implementation of the Project will allow 60 thousand citizens to celebrate housewarming.

"We shall have good reasons to be proud of our Project for its architectural and aesthetic merits", - Igor Makarov pointed out. Ten world-known architectural bureaus participated in a tender for the best architectural concept for the Minsk-City. The immensity of investment in the construction business in Byelorussia testifies to the fact that a favorable investment climate exists in the Republic.

Construction of a cross functional business-centre in the center of Minsk is one more project ITERA-Invest-Stroi is implementing in the Republic of Belarus. The plan is to construct an apartment building and two high-rise office towers, which would become the highest buildings in Minsk until 2012. The Project is worth USD 650 million.

Igor Makarov said that in spite of the immensity of the construction projects, natural gas business would remain ITERA’s principal priority.