President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday signed the Decree “On the preparation and holding of the II Games of the CIS countries in 2023”, the press service of the head of state reports.

The decree establishes a number of preferences and benefits for participants in the Games and volunteers. Among them are visa-free entry to Belarus, exemption from the need to register on the territory of the country, free travel in public transport, exemption from taxation of income in the amount of the cost of free food, accommodation, logistics, transport and other support.

In order to stimulate the attraction of extrabudgetary sources of funding, sponsors of the Games are allowed to include the amount of assistance provided as part of non-operating expenses.

The Games of the CIS countries will be held from 5 to 13 August 2023 in 11 cities of Belarus. Competitions will be held in Minsk, Grodno, Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Gomel, Zhlobin, Soligorsk, Brest, Molodechno and Borisov. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the Minsk Arena in the Belarusian capital.

The program of the II Games of the CIS countries included competitions in volleyball, rhythmic gymnastics, athletics, 3x3 basketball, handball, boxing, swimming and other sports.

It is expected that in addition to athletes from the CIS countries, athletes from Syria, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, Malaysia, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Cuba will take part in the competition.

The official mascot of the Games will be the lynx Lynx, which has patterns on its body in the style of traditional Belarusian drawings.