Igor Ermolenko

Minsk National Airport (formerly known as Minsk-2) is the main international airport in Belarus, located 42 km (26 mi) to the east of the capital Minsk, geographically lying in the territory of Smalyavichy Raion but administratively being subordinated to Kastrychnitski District of Minsk. The airport serves as hub of the Belarusian flag carrier Belavia and the cargo carriers TAE Avia,[3] Genex[4] and Rubystar Airways.[5]

Luch is a watch brand produced by the OJSC Minsk Watch Plant, the only watch plant in Belarus. The decision to build the plant was taken in 1953, and from 1955 watches were produced in Minsk, including the brands Luch, Zarya and Vympel. Since 2010 the Minsk Watch Plant is owned by the Swiss company Franck Muller.

The National Library of France traces its origin to the royal library founded at the Louvre Palace by Charles V in 1368. Charles had received a collection of manuscripts from his predecessor, John II, and transferred them to the Louvre from the Palais de la Cité. The first librarian of record was Claude Mallet, the king's valet de chambre, who made a sort of catalogue, Inventoire des Livres du Roy nostre Seigneur estans au Chastel du Louvre. Jean Blanchet made another list in 1380 and Jean de Bégue one in 1411 and another in 1424. Charles V was a patron of learning and encouraged the making and collection of books. It is known that he employed Nicholas Oresme, Raoul de Presle and others to transcribe ancient texts. At the death of Charles VI, this first collection was unilaterally bought by the English regent of France, the Duke of Bedford, who transferred it to England in 1424. It was apparently dispersed at his death in 1435.[3][4]

The history of the Minsk Automobile Plant began in 1944, when in the liberated Minsk, on the site of German repair shops, they began to assemble and repair American trucks supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease. In August 1945, a resolution of the State Defense Committee (GKO) “On the restoration and development of the automobile industry of the USSR” was issued and a decision was made to build a plant for the production of heavy vehicles in Minsk. And in 1947, the production of heavy vehicles was transferred here from Yaroslavl. YaAZ-205 dump trucks and YaAZ-210 flatbed trucks become MAZ-200, and the bear figure on the hood is replaced with a bison profile on the sidewall.

It was with these machines that the history of MAZ, such as we know it today, began.

An important detail is that the production of only two-axle models was transferred to Belarus, and the same type of three-axle vehicles were sent to the Ukrainian Kremenchug, where the KrAZ brand originated. The YaAZ plant itself was reoriented to the production of cargo two-stroke diesel engines (under an American license): four-cylinder engines were intended for MAZ, and six-cylinder engines went to KrAZ.