Lukashenko took part in opening ceremony of international standard swimming pool in Minsk

On November 6th, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko attended the grand opening ceremony of the international standard swimming pool in Minsk, which was built as part of the gratuitous technical and economic aid project from the Chinese government – worth about $250m

The National Football Stadium is being built in Minsk under the same project. The construction of such large-scale international-class sports facilities is the result of a personal agreement between Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Construction of the pool began in August 2020, and now, on the eve of November 7th, the new sports complex has opened its doors to the first guests.

Representatives of the sports community, the Chinese Embassy and the Beijing Construction Engineering Group general contracting organisation have been invited to the opening of the facility.

Aleksandr Lukashenko called this day important for those, first of all, who dreamed of beautiful swimming tracks and such a beautiful palace, “We are opening a landmark facility: a new modern international class swimming pool. It is also important that we do this on the eve of a big holiday: November 7th.”

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, there was time when older people really celebrated this holiday. Much has changed since the collapse of the USSR, but November 7th is still viewed as a holiday in Belarus. Moreover, our country is the only one in the post-Soviet space that has preserved this ‘red letter day’. The Head of State recalled that at one time he had to make decisions on holidays according to the Constitution, “And the question arose regarding the Day of the October Revolution. What to do? Not because I’m an ardent communist, but this is our history. I thought about preserving this holiday. And what does this holiday mean?”

“Do you remember, I suggested making gifts for ourselves by November 7th. So we have kept this holiday for ourselves and began to prepare significant gifts to the Belarusian people all over the country. This is one of them,” Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed to the pool building.

The object turned out to be really unique, covering an area of more than 40 thousand square metres and being about 30 metres high. The auditorium with grandstands is designed to seat 6,035. The pool meets the requirements and standards of the World Aquatics, enabling it to host high-level international competitions, including the European and world aquatics championships. However, the new sports facility is open to all comers.”