Archival news

On 26 May 2012 the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Official Heraldic Symbols came into force.

The official heraldic symbols specifically reflect the state ideology and national culture and highlight the international status of the country. This is a political, ideological, social and cultural capital of the nation.

The Law summarizes the provisions of the standing legal acts in this field and will ensure for the single government policy in the creation, confirmation, registration and use of official heraldic symbols adjusted for their specificity.

The present Law regulating the system of modern symbols is the first national legislative act in the post-Soviet countries.

The Law was published in the National Register of Legal Acts of the Republic of Belarus on 6 June 2012 with No. 63, 2/1936.

On 22 June 2012 the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus holds a hotline with the participation of Olga V. Biryukova, first deputy director at the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Republic of Belarus. The issues on the agenda include:

• Formation of the National Archival Holdings, records preservation, registration and use;
• Handling of social and legal inquiries by archival institutions;
• Establishment of common requirements for the creation and handling of records;
• Control over the development and use of official heraldic symbols of the Republic of Belarus.

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On 29-30 May 2012 the heads of the archive services and institutions of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine held an annual three-party meeting in Uzhgorod, Ukraine. The event dealt with the issues of regional archives and included an international conference "The state, problems and perspectives of regional archives". The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the Transcarpathian Regional Administration A. Ledida.


The Belarusian delegation was headed by the director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of Belarus V. Adamushko. Among the delegation were the director of the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings V. Balandin, director of the Slutsk Local State Archives I. Borodina, director of the Belarusian State Archives Museum of Literature and Art A. Zapartyko, director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus N. Rudakovsky, director of the Belarusian Research Institute of Documentation and Archival Science A. Rybakov, director of the State Archives of Grodno Region L. Yunina.

The delegation of the Russian archivists was headed by the chief of the Federal Archival Agency of Russia (Rosarkhiv) A. Artizov; the Ukrainian delegation by the chairman of the State Archival Service of Ukraine (Ukrgosarkhiv) O. Ginzburg.

Among the speakers at the international conference from the Belarusian side who delivered reports on issues of regional archives were the director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of Belarus V. Adamushko, director of the State Archives of Grodno Region L. Yunina, director of the Orsha Local State Archive T. Loiko.

Within the frames of the three-side meeting the Belarusian delegation took an active part in discussions on the issues of archival business.

The director of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of Belarus V. Adamushko had a working meeting with the Rosarkhiv chief A. Artizov and the Ukrgosarkhiv chief O. Ginzburg.

The Belarusian archivists acquainted with the work of the State Archives of Transcarpathian Region, the Ukrainian Central State Archives Museum of Literature and Art, visited the historic and memorable places in Uzhgorod and Transcarpathian Region.

The next meeting between the archivists of the three countries is to be held in 2013 in Belarus.