«Sources and Horizons. 50 Years of a Waterway». Archivists from the Zonal State Archives in Molodechno have prepared a virtual exhibition dedicated to the creation of the Vileika-Minsk Water System

January 2026 marked the 50th anniversary of the Vileika-Minsk Water System. It was the republic’s first major hydraulic engineering complex for diverting river flow from the Baltic Sea basin to the central and then southern parts of the Byelorussian SSR, to the Black Sea basin.

The issue of Minsk’s water supply became a hot topic in the post-war decade. In the early 1960s, design work began to select a water source for the Svisloch River and a diversion route. After the selected design was approved in 1964, detailed development of a detailed design for the Vileika-Minsk Water System began, which was completed and finally approved in 1967. Construction of the system began in April 1968, the centerpiece of which was to be the new Vileika Reservoir—now one of the largest artificial reservoirs in the country.

The main construction of the canal was completed by the end of November 1975. On January 16, 1976, a large rally was held, attended by the republic’s government, representatives of party bodies, the public, and construction organizations, to celebrate the commissioning of the Vileika-Minsk water system.

After the rally, the canal’s gates were opened, and water from the watershed rushed toward Minsk.

Exhibition «Sources and Horizons. 50 Years of a Waterway»