Novopolotsk resident on exhibition of gifts to President: Belarusian people’s potential is enormous

An exhibition of companies’ gifts to the President of the Republic of Belarus opened today, January 13th, at Naftan OJSC’s culture centre as part of the Marathon of Unity initiative. The flow of visitors who want to see the exposition called With Love and Gratitude has not slackened since its launch, said Vitaly Zhuravsky, senior research fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Belarusian Statehood.

According to the researcher, the event organisers brought about 100 exhibits of all types to Novopolotsk, including pieces of art, scientific research results, machinery models, etc.

“That is, however, just a tiny portion of gifts President Lukashenko received in his 30 years in office. The exhibition is hugely popular. People flock to it: school students, organised groups, corporate employees, and just curious individuals,” he said.

A painting by T. Nikanchuk called The Triumph of Technologies and depicting the Naftan company is of particular interest to Novopolotsk residents. It was presented by Naftan to the Head of State in June 2019, when Aleksandr Lukashenko visited the company. Vladimir Afanasyev proudly showed it to his 7 years old grandson, Artyom. The retired former machine operator brought the boy there after school specifically so that he could see it.

“I worked as a machine operator at Naftan for 45 years,” Mr. Afanasyev explained. “My entire life was there, so I was very happy to see a painting depicting my company among the President’s gifts. Of course, when looking at it, I feel pride for Naftan that’s still flying its banner high and for our people who could achieve so much in various areas. I wanted very much to show this exhibition to my grandson, the one destined to live and work here now. Thanks to the organisers for making this guided tour exciting and memorable.”

Yelena Smolyak, an employee of Novopolotsk’s government organisation support centre, agreed with him.

“The most interesting exhibits for me were toy models of machines our companies make. I can only imagine how impressive the originals look. Each of them calls for me to stay a little longer to be able to see all the details, so thorough, unique, precise and beautiful they are. These are gifts made with love, from the very bottom of the heart. I’m happy I could come to this exhibition, and I’m happy for the residents of Novopolotsk who had a chance to welcome the Marathon of Unity with so many exciting projects. I plan to visit other exhibitions as well, but I can say confidently even now: our people’s potential is enormous. They are capable of so many achievements when they are united in their drive to make their homeland happy and move it forward along its own independent path,” she said.