On October 2, 2024, a press conference dedicated to the Archivist’s Day was held at the National Press Center of the Republic of Belarus
The event was attended by the Director of the Department of Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus Oleg Leonidovich Voinov, the Director of the Belarusian State Archive of Film, Photo, and Sound Documents Andrei Nikolaevich Gonchar, the Director of the Belarusian Research Institute of Documentation and Archival Affairs Andrei Evgenievich Rybakov, and the Deputy Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus Svyatoslav Valentinovich Kulinok.
In his opening remarks, Oleg Voinov noted that over the 30-year period of modern development, the archival industry has come a long way in evolution, which made it possible to create modern institutions and form them as historical and educational centers.
With the support of the state, the material and technical base of archival institutions is significantly strengthened.
Active work is underway to reconstruct buildings for archival storage facilities. This year, new archive storage facilities were ceremonially opened in Gomel (March 11, 2024) and Vitebsk (July 2, 2024). The reconstruction of buildings in Mogilev and Grodno is at the final stage. In total, the constructed facilities will accommodate over 1 million 700 thousand files. Design and estimate documentation for the construction of the State Archives in Minsk has been developed.
The 25 units of modern scanning equipment acquired in recent years have significantly increased the volume of digitization of documents of the National Archival Fund.
A lot of work is being done by state archives to fulfill the instructions of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, given on August 5, 2022, in terms of strengthening information and educational work.
More than 350 exhibitions (showcase and virtual) are prepared and presented annually, popular science books and collections of archival documents are published. For the first time, the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus entered the project «Library of the Union State», which made it possible to publish a fundamental illustrated book «Operation Bagration. Partisans of the Belarusian Land…».
The republican campaign «Archives for School» organized by the Department of Archives and Records Management remains an effective tool for educational and ideological work among young people. Since 2022, more than 2,500 events have been held. Archival institutions have been visited by more than 35,000 schoolchildren and students.
The work of archives on the widespread use of archival documents is a targeted process in terms of ongoing educational work on the education of citizenship and patriotism in Belarusian society, the prevention of historical falsification.
Svyatoslav Kulinok reported on the main areas of publishing activities of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus. Among the main trends, he highlighted the systematic nature of this work and its multi-vector nature. Thanks to the support of the leadership of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus and the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus, it was possible to significantly increase the circulation of publishing projects. The speaker spoke about the main published collections and editions – «Operation Bagration. Partisans of the Belarusian land ..»., «Nazi punitive operations against partisans of the Polotsk-Lepel partisan zone», the «Partisan Archive» series, as well as about publishing projects planned for 2025.
In his speech, Andrei Rybakov informed about the latest scientific and methodological developments of the institute in the field of archival affairs and records management. In connection with the entry into force on July 1, 2024, of the new edition of the Instructions for records management in government agencies and other organizations, he paid special attention to the Methodological recommendations for the development of local instructions for records management prepared by the Belarusian Research Institute of Document Science and Archival Affairs, which take into account the specifics of the activities of organizations of various organizational and legal forms, the features of their structures and the functional capabilities of the information systems used in record-keeping processes. The speaker also focused on methodological developments on issues of working with documents in organizations implementing international ISO standards for quality management systems and other management systems, which seems especially relevant given that 2024 has been declared the Year of Quality by the President of the country.
In his speech, Andrei Gonchar briefly spoke about the presented archive, its funds and the tasks being solved. The director of the archive focused in more detail on the significant projects that are currently being implemented by the archive: «In the Open Access», «Open Film Archive», the film marathon «Boomerang».
The Belarusian State Film, Photo and Sound Documentary Archives have created 10 documentaries dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders (Liberation, Operation Bagration, Partisans), which has become a new area of activity. The state archives have organized more than 500 events throughout the country to show the films they have created.
 |
| 1. Participants in the press conference dedicated to Archivist’s Day |
 |
| 2. Speech by Deputy Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus S.V.Kulinka |
 |
| 3. Speech by Director of the Belarusian Research Institute of Documentation and Archival Affairs A.E.Rybakov |
 |
| 4. Speech by Director of the Belarusian State Film, Photo and Sound Documentary Archives A.N.Gonchar |
 |
| 5. Interview with Director of the Department O.L.Voinov |