Zmitser Bandarenka: Don’t play dangerous financial games

The collapse of Lukashenka’s financial pyramid continues.

The coordinator of “European Belarus” civil campaign Zmitser Bandarenka has commented to charter97.org on the reports that non-residents have withdrawn more than $844.3 million from Belarusian banks.

“These figures are telling,” he said. “They are the consequence of the current situation of the bank system of Belarus and the collapse of the financial pyramid Lukashenka had been building for the last few years. Over all this period the GDP was almost not growing at all. In many industries decline in production is observed.

At the same time, until October 2014 there was an increase in flow of funds of non-residents, and well as increase of foreign currency and ruble deposits in Belarus’ banks made by citizens of Belarus. But as notorious Sergey Mavrodi justly said, Lukashenka is nothing but his pupil in creation of financial pyramids. In a financial pyramid repayment of money and dividend payment are carried out according to the principle “returns to investors are paid from new capital paid to the operators by new investors”.

As soon as Belarusian citizens and non-residents showed financial wisdom, and start withdrawing their money from Belarusian banks in November-December last year, the authorities were immediately forced to carry out 40% devaluation, and to upheld interest to the pyramid, to increase the rate for deposits to 50%. The collapse of the financial pyramid slowed down for some time, but collapse of the economy speeded up, as it is impossible for Belarusian enterprises to develop when loan interest rates are over 50%.

The trouble is that Lukashenka satisfies his gambling addition at the expense of citizens. In 20111 he had to sell out Beltransgaz, the national asset. But for all players, both state and individual ones, the aspiration to play dangerous financial games ends in deplorable results, when they have to sell property – either of their family or, in our case, the asset of the entire nation.

Now there is almost nothing to sell, and in fact there are hardly any buyers amid the regional crisis, the harshest crisis since the early 1990ies. So in the first place I would recommend Belarusian citizens to carefully consider prospects of “boosting their fortune” in the Belarusian Ponzi scheme, that is, in Belarusian banks.”