Alyaksandr Bukhvostau: Situation in Belarusian industry catastrophic

Plants in the provinces are going to be closed down, and there are no vacancies anywhere.

It is said by the leader of the Free Trade Union of Metal Workers Bukhvostau, praca-by.info writes.

- MAZ and Minsk ball bearing plant work five days a week now, they say that the enterprises are going to work a five-day working week until the “elections.” But they work according to the work load. And Avtogidrousilitel in Barysau is still working three days a week, Monday is a day off without pay, on Friday workers work for two thirds of their pay.

It is obvious that an order had been received to move plants to a five-day working week, the “elections” is coming. But from an objective point of view, sales have not become better. Machine-building enterprises have not become working any better, it’s an artificial “progress”, for people not to take run, – said Alyaksandr Bukhvostau.

- According to the Belarusian Statistics Committee figures, the top three plants in terms of losses in the first half of 2015 are MAZ, Gomselmash and Gomelsteklo. Is the situation so bad?

- Naturally, they are loss-making! MAZ has reduced production of machines twofold, the situation of Gomselmash is really severe. In general, all major enterprises are becoming loss-making: their capacities are huge, but they are idle, there is no modernization. The machine-building complex is moving to the point of no return.

Transition to the five-day working week has not been a result of natural causes (increase of production and sales of goods). It is a political decision, for people to stay at plants during elections.

- At any case, the life of Belarus does not end on the day of the elections. What will be after the “elections”?

- The situation with production is not going to become any better. Winter is coming, and production level is always lower in winter, and sales are going to be worse as well. The situation is to become worse, and it is hard to predict in which way.

The Belarusian Statistics Committee (Belstat) has announced that salaries have dropped abruptly. Since the beginning of the year the average salary in dollar terms decreased by $206. Workers of MAZ, who earned $600-700 a month, and now they get $400…

- However, Belstat has whipped up stunning figures – the average salary in the county is Br 7 million, or $415.

- The average salary is lower than $400. One could laugh at that: by the present day Belarusians had been promised $1000 a month, and we received $415. I do not believe in that! I have received a phone call from Avtogidrousilitel plant: they have not received salaries, they have received Br300,000 each, they are not given money on time, they have not received vacation pay yet. The state of affairs is the same at many plants. Where could they receive $415 from?

Recently I had a meeting with workers from Mahilou. Workers from Krychau said that all plants are closed. The analogous situation is in Asipovichy – they have no vacations at all in their town. And employment bureaus do not want to register people. One of workers finished re-education at the Employment bureau, and he was not offered a job.

The state rather tries to support industry in Minsk, and in the provinces the situation is catastrophic.