The Belarusian government has approved the state program "Mass Information and Book Publishing" until 2025. The Council of Ministers issued relevant Resolution No. 21 on 18 January 2021, BelTA learned from the National Legal Internet portal.

The program is aligned with the priorities of Belarus' social and economic development for 2021-2025 and the state policy in mass media and publishing. Its goal is to increase the influence of the media on the formation of positive public opinion, to preserve and strengthen the moral values of society, to promote the traditions of patriotism and humanism, and to beef up cultural and scientific potential.

In order to achieve this goal, the program envisages the measures to improve the quality and competitiveness of state-owned print media and online publications in the information market, to meet the needs of the population to obtain objective, timely and exhaustive information, to ensure the sustainable functioning of state publishing entities and to create conditions for the state media policy.

A set of 21 events has been devised to implement the program. These include the activities to promote content on the Internet, increase activity in social networks and messengers, improve the quality of audiovisual products, expand thematic and genre diversity of TV and radio broadcasts, increasing the share of Belarusian TV shows in TV broadcasting. Plans are also in place to publish literature to increase the cultural, spiritual and intellectual level of Belarusian society, to issue more electronic publications and to conduct applied research in the field of media (scientific and technical support of activities).

The program will be financed from the national and local budgets, own funds, and other sources not prohibited by law. The funding will amount to more than Br1.2 billion.

The resolution came into force on 18 January 2021.