HOW DO THEY LIVE IN BELARUS?

Belarusian state-run mass media regularly report that due to ‘the right choice of economic course,’ which the authorities are not going to change, common Belarusians have decent incomes which ensure their worthy living, especially as compared to the countries of the former USSR. Is this true? Let’s look closer into this.

To recall, in 1990 average wages made up 250 Soviet rubles. For this money, one could buy 1,785 loafs of brown bread (14 kopeks per loaf), or 56 kg of the first-rate pork meat at the market (4.5 rubles per kilo), or, let’s say, 60 bottles of vodka Extra (4.12 rubles per bottle). These products make those same “glass of vodka and cracklings” for which our fellow citizens have long ago exchanged their conscience.

Now, what do we have today? In this January, the average monthly wages around the country made up, according to the official data, 519 000 BYR. For this money, one can buy 895 loafs of brown bread (580 BYR per loaf), or 52 kg of the first-rate pork meat (in average, 10 000 BYR per kilo as the price ranges between 8 000 BYR for blade roast and 13 000 BYR for boneless neck), or 98 bottles of vodka Belaya Rus’ (made by Minsk company Crystall, 5 320 BYR per bottle). Obviously, we go ‘ahead of the planet’ in what regards the ‘glass of vodka’ and have considerably overran shopping capacity of the scanty 1990, but we are still far away from it in what regards cracklings.

How do our neighbors live? Where state distribution and social wage-leveling weren’t looked after, people earn several times more a month. For example, the average wages in Belarus is now $240 and in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia it is twofold-threefold higher. Even Russia, where half-carried reforms transformed into criminalization of economy, pays higher wages to its people. They say that even Ukrainian average wages currently exceeds the Belarusian one (www.belapan.com).

Several years ago A. Lukashenko publicly stated that at last the country had built up a good payment system which would ensure well-being and prosperity of each citizen. Unfortunately, all the “new system” changed was excluding of top-level officials from the general schedule of rates, their wages being set by the president personally and secretly from people. Now, earnings of officials and other employees are not bound and can increase independently: some – depending on rising prices or to retain power (e.g. to ensure right election results) and other – in case there is a threat of social riot because of hard life. All’s like it was under J. Stalin, even payments in envelopes to special people, as Academician A. Voitovich witnessed.

Recently, the president personally publicized the wages of some top officials. As it turned out, ministers have about $800 per month (and up to $1,000 with bonus money), and A. Lukashenko has some $1,000-1,100 (he couldn’t say it exactly because he is government supported, he explained). This is hard to believe, but even these amounts considerably exceed incomes of the majority of population.

People well understand this. As the results of the nation opinion poll conducted in February of 2006 showed, those who benefited from the A. Lukashenko’s governance are, in the opinion of respondents, only civil servants – those employed in the presidential “vertical of power”, in law-enforcement agencies, deputies of the Parliament and heads of state-run enterprises and organizations (See Table 1), as well as armed forces personnel and pensioners, i.e. those who don’t earn their living but are supported from state budget.

Table 1. Distribution of answers to the question “For the years of A. Lukashenko’s presidency, the state of some people has improved, of other – on the contrary aggravated and of some more – hasn’t changed. How has the state of the following social groups changed?”, %

Basic categories of population like workers, collective farmers, teachers, doctors, etc. all fell into one group of the “People like you.” Two thirds of respondents think that their state hasn’t changed or aggravated.

Meanwhile, civil servants live better than they deserve, respondents say. (See Table 2).

Table 2. Distribution of answers to the question “Does living standard of the following population groups correspond to their deserts?”, %

Starting his first term, A. Lukashenko publicly promised that he would take down prices and inflation and will at the same time take wages and pensions up to the world level. Most of people still don’t know what the world level of incomes is. However, the fact that the country failed to reach the level of 1990 by now shows that a huge distance lies between promise and its fulfillment.

Table 3. Dynamics of monthly wages and retirement pension (annual average)

In his election pledges of 2001, A. Lukashenko stated that the average wages in the country would increase five-fold by 2006. Around 60% of population doesn’t believe that this is possible nowadays. It has turned out they were right: even according to official data, the average wages has grown up by one third estimated. (SeeTable 3). The same is true for pensions. People were cheated once again!

Promising is not enough, they should know how to keep promises! We are having presidential election soon. Who will the Belarusians elect this time? The one who talks beautiful talks or the one who can make promises the reality or, at least, quit if he/she fails?