ABSTRACT
Even with a population of 322,000, Belgorod accounts for only 22% of the province's total population. The land is beautiful around Belgorod: gently undulating hills on which teal-green patches of woods are interspersed with vast and groomed Kelly-green fields. Also the province of Belgorod has taken full advantage of the December 1993 Presidential Decree giving provinces carte blanche in introducing local taxes. All this has helped to keep Belgorod economically healthy. The district of Belgorod stands out in terms of the value of fixed assets per unit of land, as do the districts located along the major highways linking the city of Belgorod with Shebekino and Gubkin. The province of Belgorod produces about one quarter of the sugar in the Central Chernozem region and 11% of that in Russia as a whole. The province of Belgorod alone could increase its total output of refined sugar from 400,000-1,000,000 tons/year, half from beets and half from imported raw sugar.
