AIRPORTS
All the international flights and most of those from the CIS countries go to the “National airport Minsk”, usually called “MinsK-2”. It is situated approximately 40 km from the city. Its building is divided into two wings: the left one—for flights around CIS countries, and the right one—for international flights. Arriving passengers are met at the ground floor, departure halls are at the 2nd floor. Left-luggage offices are in the underground floor of the airport. Currency exchange offices are on the ground floor, 1st and 2nd floors. A bank branch is at the ground floor right at the entrance for the passengers of international flights, it is open 24 hours and, beside converting currencies, it services most of the world-known credit cards and treats on Tax-free basis. Right here you can find an inquiry desk (“Information”) and the car-rental office. The offices of air companies, operating in Belarus, are on the 2nd floor of the airport, a restaurant, bars and souvenir stores are also there in the left wing there is a post office—round-o-clock services of post, telegraph, telephone, fax, copying-machine, Internet.
Airport “Minsk-1” located within the city and mostly is for local and CIS flights. Transportation from the airport to the city is rather easy with trolley-buses ¹¹ 2, 18. Main cities of the Republic have their own airports.
AIRCOMPANIES
BELAVIA
The national company “BELAVIA”—27 regular flights around the world and an extensive charter program for summer period.
14 Nemiga St., tel. 210-41-00
cash-desks: 38 Chkalov St., tel. 222-54-29
airport “Minsk-2”: tel. 279-10-32
14 Nemiga St., tel. 210-41-00
Booking air tickets:
on CIS tel. 206-67 95,
International flights tel. 206-67-97
OFFICIES OF AIR-COMPANIES
AEROFLOT—Russian airlines
25 Kupala St., tel. 206-69-79
AUSTRIAN AIRLINES
15 Lenin St., tel. 289-19-70, 289-19-71
E-mail: auasalesminsk@aua.com
LITHUANIAN AIRLINES
3 Berson St., tel. 210 48-88
LOT—Polish airlines
7 Masherov Ave., tel. 226-66-28
LUFTHANSA
56 SkorinaAve. tel. 284-71-39
cash-desks—at the airport “Minsk-2”, tel. 279-17-45
EL-AL—Israeli airlines
8-18 Komsomolskaya St., tel. 211-26-06
cash-desks—at 6a Partizansky Ave, tel. 219-76-44
General information on air-flights—tel. 006.
Enquiry at the airport “Minsk-2”:
flights to CIS—tel. 279-13-00
international flights—tel. 279-17-30
By train
The new, recently completed railway station building is situated in the very center of Minsk. Exits to the platforms, cloakrooms, shops, WC are on the ground floor. 24-hour booking-offices, information are on the 1st floor of the railway station. On the 2nd floor there are shopping rows, waiting hall, a post-office with a round-o'clock international telephone, a drug-store and bars.
Foreign currency can be exchanged on the 1st floor in the neighboring old building of the railway station or in the exchange offices across the road. You can spend the night in the hotel “Express” (a high building next to the station). It is quite easy to get to any place in the city by subway or by taxi from the Railway station square.
Information—tel. 005
Tickets booking—tel. 051
Tickets with delivery—tel. 225-62-46
By coach
There are three bus terminals in Minsk, international route coaches arrive to the Central and Eastern terminals. The two-floor building of the Central one is not far from the railway station. On the ground floor there are cloakrooms, on the first floor—booking-offices and an information bureau. On the 2nd floor of the Central bus terminal you can book tickets for international routes, procure vouchers to Poland and open Czech visas in the international booking-offices (open from 8 a.m. till 9 p.m. on weekdays, from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. on Sunday, contact telephone: 227-04-73). Here there is also the office of “Euroautoservice” arranging motor tickets to European countries. A waiting hall, a bar and a public phone are on the 2nd floor of the terminal.
Information—tel. 004
Booking tickets on the departure day—tel. 227-41-89
Advance booking—tel. 227-40-83
Booking tickets for international routes—tel. 227-04-73
Bus terminals
“Central”
6 Bobruyskaya St., tel. 227-37-25
“Eastern”
34 Vaneyeva St., tel. 248-08-82, 248-58-21
“Moskovsky”
59 Filimonov St., tel. 219-36-22
By car
The main check points for vehicles on the Belarusian border are as follows:
with Poland—1) “Berestovitsa—Bobrovniky” (for all types of vehicles), 2) “Peschatka—Polovtsy” (for cars of Belarussian and Polish citizens), 3) “Kozlovichy—Kukuryky” (for trucks), 4) “Warsaw bridge—Terespol” (for cars and coaches), 5) “Domachevo—Slovatyche” (for cars);
with the Ukraine—6) Tomashevka, 7) Mokrany, 8) Verchny Terebezhov, 9) Novaya Rudnya, 10) Novaya Guta;
with Latvia—11) Urbany;
with Lithuania—12) Kamenny Log, 13) Benyakony.
On the border
with Russia customs check points are removed, however sporadic control can be practiced.
While crossing the border an owner has to include information about his car to the customs declaration, and to obtain an insurance document of civil responsibility. This condition is obligatory since the territory of Belarus is not included in the validity zone of foreign vehicle insurance policies so far. Every check-point has its own insurance policy bureau, and It takes less than 10 minutes to obtain a document. The charge depends on the period of stay in Belarus -from 4.8 Euro for 15 days to 53.1 Euro for a year. Attention: the charge is received only in USD. Euro or Russian roubles!
While traveling a driver should have driving license, documents for the car and a letter of attorney in case he is not the owner of the car. Special attention should be paid to traffic signs—in comparison with European roads they are not always perfectly noticeable—and also following the traffic rules, which are strictly controlled by the road police. Its posts are indicated “ÄÀI” in Belarusian or “ÃAI” in Russian. Remember that in Belarus consumption of any quantity of alcohol (indue beer) by a driver is the violation of the laws!
Distance (km) from Minsk to European capitals
Amsterdam 1739
Berlin 1120
Budapest 1110
Helsinki 1148
Kiev 550
London 2180
Moscow 695
Paris 2129
Prague 1141
Rome 2268
Sofia 1753
Warsaw 536
Vienna 1164
Vilnius 182
Motorservice
Emergency motoraid
tel. 001, 007 and the enquiry service “SPAS” (24 hours) tel. 236-30-01, 236-50-01
Emergency car service
tel. 265-27-27
Visa
Visa requirements
For more detailed and updated information please visit the consular section at the web-site of Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Visas are required to enter Belarus. Exceptions are made for the citizens of the CIS, Cuba, Korea (the Democratic People's Republic), Macedonia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Serbia and Montenegro and holders of diplomatic passports from several states.
Belarusian visa is normally issued by a Belarusian embassy or consulate in 5 working days, there is also a possibility to get it urgently (in 48 hours) by paying a double fee. The fee for Belarusian private or business single visa varies from US$ 40 to $ 80.
Visas for children under 16 are issued free of charge, though a visa processing fee can be levied in this case by certain Belarusian embassies or consulates.
There is no possibility to get a Belarusian entry visa on the border (except for the National airport Minsk-2).
To get a Belarusian business visa a foreigner has to present an original invitation of any Belarusian legal person, which is officially registered in the Republic of Belarus.
To get a visa for private purposes foreigner has to present an invitation issued to a Belarusian resident by his citizenship and migration office. The original invitation should be handed over to an embassy/consulate or Consular office at the National airport in this case; no fax or photocopy is accepted. Multiple private visa is issued upon presentation of the original invitation to foreigners, visiting their close relatives.
Belarusian tourist visas are issued upon presentation of the original of the tourist voucher received from any Belarusian tour operator or tourist agency.
Visas can be valid for one, two, three or multiple entries. They are to be used within the period indicated therein.
In case of need, private or business visa can be extended up to 90 days when staying in Belarus. It will be done by the Minsk city citizenship and migration office (contact phone + 375 17 231 38 09) or Regional citizenship and migration office in Grodno, Brest, Minsk, Mogiliov, Gomel upon presentation of all required documents. Tourist visa cannot be extended.
Exit permits required for all foreigners intending to leave the country with expired visas. They are issued by the Minsk city passport and visa office or Regional passport and visa offices in Grodno, Brest, Minsk, Mogiliov, Gomel.
Obtaining Visas at the National Airport "Minsk"
There is a consular office at the National airport Minsk. Normally the office issues visas to foreign visitors from the countries where there is no Belarusian consular office. However, it does also issue visas to the citizens of the states where there are Belarusian visa offices.
To obtain a visa a foreign traveler has to present an original invitation of the Belarusian inviting party. The inviting party may be a Belarusian company; a resident of Belarus (in this case the invitation has to be registered with Belarusian citizenship and migration offices); and a licensed tourist company.
The following tariffs are used to issue visas to foreign visitors:
This tariff is applied to the US citizens regardless of their country of residence. When issuing visitors', tourist and transit visas to the US citizens under 16 years of age the cost of visa is US$ 100, according to the reciprocity principle. Source: Belarus.by
Customs
Customs regulations Personal belongings and other goods
There are some things that cannot be imported or exported to/from Belarus by tourists and visitors. The list of such things is rather common with other European countries. You cannot import drugs (narcotics), weapons, explosives, etc. without special permits.
Other things can be imported. However, only a certain amount of goods can be imported without paying customs dues.
A person can import for free only 50 kg (110 lbs) of luggage with the estimated cost of its contents not exceeding 1000 euro (or 80 kg and ˆ1200 for indivisible items). This may include up to 5 kg of foodstuffs (for the CIS residents – up to 30 kg during June-October).
A 30 per cent due is levied for extra luggage, but not less than ˆ2 per 1 kg. For luggage exceeding 250 kg or ˆ10000 the dues make up 60 per cent, but not less than ˆ4 per 1 kg.
Within these limits you can bring with you for free:
1 liter of liquors (for persons over 18)
1 liter of beer
200 cigarettes, or 200 grams of tobacco (for persons over 18)
5 jewelry items
3 items made from natural furs or leather
1 watch
4 tires
If you take with you more than that you would be asked to pay the dues in amount of 60 per cent but not less than ˆ4 per kilo (the same regulation applies if you fail to declare such items). For every extra liter of liquors be prepared to pay ˆ20 in dues.
Note that you can bring with you your clothes, laptop, camera, player or other portable devices for your own personal use without restrictions on their cost or weight for free as long as these items are not new (used) and you are not a resident of Belarus. This is stipulated in the Decree of the President of Belarus No.259 dated May 27, 2004, article 10.6 and Annex 2.
One odd thing: when leaving Belarus with a laptop, CDs, DVDs, diskettes or audio-/video-tapes technically you should present them for inspection up to one week before you travel (in case you have there something threatening the national security of Belarus). This regulation, fortunately, is not strictly enforced.
Money
Generally, you can import or export any amount of money through the Belarusian border. All the difference is in the amount you are carrying. This simple table will help you understand if you need to declare your money or obtain a special permit.
* - formally, an "oral declaration" is required. Most often a customs officer would ask you about how much money you are carrying. Answering to that would be an "oral declaration".
** - i.e. you would need to declare your money by filling in the relevant fields in customs declaration.
*** - permits are needed only for exporting money from Belarus. Permits may be obtained at Belarusian banks where you buy or withdraw currency. Your import declaration which states the amount of foreign currency you brought to Belarus is your permit to export the same amount of money. So, stick to it.
Insurance
Medical insurance is required for all foreign citizens traveling to the Republic of Belarus.
To be eligible for emergency medical care in Belarus all foreign citizens should have the medical insurance agreement with a Belarusian insurance company or with an authorized foreign insurance company and possess the insurance certificate (policy) issued by the company.
The insurance certificate (policy) issued by a foreign insurance company should be valid on the territory of the Republic of Belarus during the stay and should cover the insurance cases established by the Law of the Republic of Belarus. The minimum limit of insurance responsibility is five thousand US dollars.
The representatives of Belarusian insurance companies will provide foreign citizens with necessary insurance agreements and certificates on any border crossing point of the Republic of Belarus.
Citizens of the Republic of Belarus and corporate bodies registered in Belarus inviting foreign citizens to visit Belarus are entitled to complete the medical insurance agreements for their invitees.
Medical insurance is not required for tourists with transit visas crossing Belarus, diplomats and official delegations, crewmembers of air and rail vehicles, citizens of the CIS states, holders of the Travel documents (“Titre de Voyage”) issued to stateless persons and refugees.
Insurance premium for foreign citizens ranges from US$1 for up to 2 days stay to $ 85 for a one year stay.
Bringing a pet to Belarus
Certification of Veterinarian's Examination Statement confirmed by a local veterinary office is required.
The documents are also needed that show that the pet has received all the vaccination necessary for international travel (the list of vaccines is available through most local veterinaries). The vaccination should be made not later than 2 weeks before travel (i.e. 5 days before travel is not OK, and this is strictly enforced). The customs will charge the traveler a customs processing fee for every pet. The fee is quite nominal and currently is about 7 US dollars.
Technically translations (to Russian/Belarusian) are required for the documents but this is normally not enforced. If a person arrives with a pet and documents are in English and not translated most of times there will be no problems. Certainly a translation of the pet's documents will make travel more calm and easy.
Upon arrival to Belarus pets need to be registered with a local veterinary service within one month of arrival.
It is generally possible to travel with a pet in local buses, trains and airplanes but better check with appropriate carrier about their policy.
It is also possible to stay with a pet in some hotels and this also needs to be confirmed by hotels directly in each particular case.
Money
The Belarusian currency is called "rubel" though Russian variant of the name "ruble" can be (and is) used with relation to Belarusian money.
Currently there are notes ranging from 10 to 100,000 rubles. No coins are used in Belarus for circulation. Only a small amount of commemorative coins is produced.
For the use in metro there are special plastic cards and tokens. Smart cards (plastic cards with microchips) are used for public payphones.
There are not many vending machines in Belarus and if there is one – it would accept paper notes (as do coffee machines at many commercial centers) or tokens will be sold somewhere at a nearby newspaper stand or other small retailer.
There are numerous currency exchange offices in Belarusian cities to change foreign currency to Belarusian rubles and back. Normally there should be no problems with exchanging US dollars, euros and Russian rubles.
Post
Postal services in Belarus are rather reliable. There is a network of post offices, covering entire territory of Belarus. Local mailings are inexpensive and for postcards, letters and small packages (under 0.5 kg) are less than US$ 0.10. International mailings are also cheap.
There is also a network of mailboxes around the country that are both for domestic and international mail.
If you send packages to Belarus via regular (national) mail service and the cost of the package does not exceed ˆ100 and its contents is not intended for commercial purposes, no dues are collected. A 30 per cent import duty is levied on the packages with the contents exceeding ˆ100 and from all packages sent by expedited courier services.
Telephone
You can make a direct call from Belarus to practically any country of the world. For international calls you have to dial "8", then wait for the tone, then dial "10" + code of the country you are calling to + area code + phone number.
NOTE: most landline telephone lines in Belarus use pulse dialing. Only some of them may use as well tone dialing.
Calls to the subscribers within Belarus are made using different procedures, depending from what type of phone you are calling - landline or mobile.
Landline to landline phone: for local numbers just dial the number, for long distance dial 8-wait for the dial tone – area code – phone number.
Landline to cell phone – dial 8- wait for dial tone - 029-XXX-XXXX
Cell phone to cell phone – just dial the 7-digit number
Cell phone to landline phone – '#' – 'XXX-XXXX' (for local numbers), or '+375'-'area code'-'number'
NOTE: Area codes for mobile phones are 029 and 025. If dialed from abroad zero is omitted.
There are three cell phone operators in Belarus. One of them operates analog NMT and digital CDMA2000 networks and the other two operate digital GSM. Networks of the providers cover mainly larger cities and highways and are not available in remote rural areas.
If you have a GSM phone it is possible that it will operate in roaming mode in Belarus. Note, however, that American GSM is not the same as European GSM (Belarusian companies use GSM 900/1800), so make sure with your provider that your phone will be compatible and will operate in roaming. Another important thing to note is that price of roaming calls is quite high and many foreign providers will charge you up to US$ 5 per minute to roam in Belarus.
It is possible to rent a cell phone while you are in Belarus. For details see the websites of mobile phone service providers (www.velcom.by, www.belcel.by & www.mts.by).
To get a subscription to a mobile service a customer normally needs a Belarusian passport.
There is a quite extensive network of payphones in major Belarusian cities, however most regular payphones cannot be used for international calling. There are quite a limited number of the phones with international call option in large cities. However, international payphones would be normally available at main post offices in smaller towns.
Payphones in Belarus accept only special phone cards and do not accept cash or credit/debit cards. Phone cards are sold at post offices and in newspaper kiosks.
Useful Telephone Numbers in Minsk:
01—rescue service
02—militia
03—first aid
004—auto terminal inquiry
005—railway inquiry
006—air terminal inquiry
007—tourism inquiry
067—consumer services inquiry
069—chemist’s inquiry
Auto information.
088—exact time
091—repertoire of the biggest cinemas
092—night clubs inquiry
093—twenty-four-hour shops
094—horoscope for a week
095—weather forecast
Internet access
While in Belarus, you have several options to get Internet connection.
Dial-up from your computer
If you bring your computer (say, laptop) with you, it is possible to set up a dial-up connection to the Internet. You do not necessarily need a contract to use a dial-up service in Belarus. You have two options.
"Internet Card"
Many providers sell so-called "Internet cards" that have account IDs and passwords valid only for some specified period. The underside of the cards has the information on how to set-up your computer (only in Russian) to connect to the Internet.
Beltelecom "Subscription-Free" access
Belarusian state telecom company provides the service where users can connect to the Internet simply by dialing from the computer a special line and using any ID or password. Usage costs are then billed to the phone line owner. To connect dial from your computer number '8w600100' ('w' is for 'wait for dial tone' and is understood by a computer) with any username and password.
Visit cybercafé
There is a network of cybercafes in Belarus that provide its visitors with access to the Internet. There are both state-run (Beltelecom) and private cybercafes that offer access to the Net as well as some related services such as printing, CD-copying, scanning, etc.
Domestic transportation
There are several ways of moving between towns in Belarus.
Certainly, if you arrived in Belarus in your own car this problem is solved for you. All you need then is a road map that you can buy at a bookstore.
For those visitors that did not bring their vehicle with them there is an option to rent one. There are offices of Avis and Europcar in Belarus as well as some other local renting companies.
As regards public transportation there are the following options: bus, train and air.
There are very few local flights in Belarus and they are not very frequent. That means that you can only get to some oblast centers once or twice a week.
More useful are bus and train.
Tickets and timetables are available at respective train and bus terminals.
Climate
The climate of Belarus is temperate-continental with mild and damp winter and warm summer. The warmest period is May-September, the average monthly temperature in this period is about +13—+19 ?C. The warmest month is July, the coldest one is January.
The average temperature in Minsk
January—-6; February—-3; March—+1; April—+8; May—+13; June—+17; July—+18; August—+17; September—+14; October—+7; November—+1; December—-1
Clothes
In summer it is recommended to wear light clothes made of natural cloth. In autumn it is recommended to wear jackets, cloaks, umbrellas are also necessary. In winter when it’s freezing and snowing we wear fur coats, sheepskin coats and warm shoes.
Time
GMT + 2:00.
Health service
All the foreigners, staying in Belarus, need medical insurance. An insurance document has the phone numbers to be called in case of necessity.
Emergency medical aid, tel. 03
Drug-store No. 13 with extended business hours,
16 F. Skorina Ave, tel. 227-48-44
Drug-store No. 36 with extended business hours,
11 Shevchenko Blvd, tel. 213-97-43
24-hours medicine kiosk—“Preston-market” store,
153a Bogdanovich St., tel. 288-47-34
Car rent services
AutoArsenalRent
39 Pushkin Ave. (hotel “Orbita”), tel. 257-63-84
Auto-saloon
8 Leshchynsky St., tel. 257-97-57
Auto-house “Atlant-M”
31 MasherovAve. (hotel “Planeta”), tel. 226-73-83
AVIS-Belideal
15 Storozhevskaya St. (hotel “Belarus”), tel. 234-79-90
Airport “Minsk-2”, tel. 279-14-86
Lada-Avtoprokat
1 Serova St., tel. 275-18-05
Car servicing
“Auto-house AtlantM” (VW)
22 Sharangovich St., tel. 286-49-95
“Elitavto” Inc. (Volvo, Mitsubishi)
169 SkonnaAve., tel. 228-70-24
“RCM” (Renault)
48, block 10. Koltsov St., tel. 207-51 -38
JV “Auto-saloon AV” (Audi)
1 Serov St, tel. 275-89-03
“Rl Ml AVTO” (BMW)
32 Kazintsa St., tel. 277-40-10
“EUROFORD” Ltd. (Ford)
5 Avtomobilistov St., NovinkI, tel 213-30-93
