Henadz Fiadynich: Anti-sponger law is government's weak point

There would be no spongers if it were profitable to work in Belarus.

Anti-sponger fight is the beginning of a great campaign. The government intends to implement a range of measures to reduce the share of the hidden economy. In particular, there will be reduced cash flow, introduced tariffs for collection, will be imposed a ban on simplified taxation for individual enterprises, conducted countering backdoor salaries, and will be introduced income declaration for families and so on. Henadz Fiadynich, the Chairman of the Trade Union of Radio-Electronic Industry, shared his opinion with charter97.org that the government is trying to find out those who live a gilded life and use them for propaganda.

- Initiative about spongers is not a bill, but a come-and-go manner. The law on anti-sponger, confiscation of luxury housing in settlement of a debt. It happens when there is a gaping budget deficit and the government does not know where should it take it from. The economics is uneffective. And people is the only source to bleed money from, he said.

– What will do those who fall under a definition of a sponger?

- Now people will do business or sign contractor agreement not to break the law. Why is it done for? To make people work for free.

- Against whom is this initiative?

- If this is done in order to identify hundreds of people who do not work but live a gilded life, this is not the working class, but a completely different category of citizens. - If it is done against those working abroad, how should they be spongers? They bring money home, pay taxes and buy goods in stores. I have not seen as such a serious Belarusian monitoring to promulgate such laws. If it is only about a group of one thousand people, for Gods' sake... It could be resolved without laws as there exist other normative acts.

–And who will be actually affected by the law?

- I guess it will affect those who get a backdoor salary. But authorities must allow private business to take money for "untainted" salary to people then a person would be able to get a pension. It is directed just to show on the national television a sponger with cars and a big house, saying we fined him, jailed and seized everything, but it's not a work but propaganda! When such laws appear it shows the weakness of the government. There should be created favourable conditions to make work in Belarus more advantageous and there will be no spongers then.