Enterprise directors walk a minefield in Belarus

In order to save themselves the business class should think of creating their own political force.

This is how a coordinator of the European Belarus civic campaign Dzmitry Bandarenka commented for the charter97.org web-site on Lukashenka today’s threats to intermediary firms.

“While there are no civilized relations established between the state and business, between politics and economy, entrepreneurship will remain a very risky business in our country. When in captivity I communicated with the heads of enterprises and firms of all the levels. I understood that they literally walked a minefield, since the conditions for economic activity in the country are dictated by a single person and a narrow circle of his entourage.

For example, when there was the national currency devaluation in Belarus, many directors and businessmen were glad they were in prison, because it was unknown what dollar exchange rate would be used for calculating the return on exports and which one would later be used by the tax inspection and the Financial Investigations Department for calculating the revenues”, - Dzmitry Bandarenka says.

According to the politician, “now there is a wave of imprisonments of directors and entrepreneurs for the violations, allegedly committed by them in 2011-2012”.

“My cellmates’ prediction is coming true one hundred percent. There is a saying “Politics is the continuation of business and economy”. If there is a sharp competition in a country’s economy, there will be one in politics too: different political forces are supported by different corporations according to legislative mechanisms, while a state’s monopoly gives rise to a dictatorship.

In Belarus the dictator himself comes up with economic laws, often having got out on the wrong side of the bed. These are exactly entrepreneurs and the heads of state enterprises, who are the hostages of such a system. Hence the psychology of timeservers among the directors, when a person is ready to fulfill a most insane resolution, but tries to create some intermediary schemes, taking care of the day to come”, - the politician believes.

According to Bandarenka, Lukashenka is ready to obtain money in any way possible today in order to save his power in the conditions of an economic crisis.

“Many businessmen and directors believe that prison is inevitable and is a part of their profession. Here I can tell that if Belarusian entrepreneurs and directors wanted security and adequate development for their businesses, they would long think of supporting opposition or creating their own political force. But they go to prisons in thousands, and the state’s steamroller often goes over their families and firms.

It is not important whom Lukashenka choses to be a scapegoat: intermediary firms, the directors of large Minsk enterprises or the heads of the Belarusian Potassium Company. In general, the words “marketing” and “management” simply do not exist for him and his entourage. He is ready to obtain money at any price for saving his power in the conditions of an economic crisis. If the business-class, including the directors, remains that unmurmuring, this money will be forced from they at the price of their lives and fates”, - the European Belarus civic campaign’s coordinator is convinced.