The Authorities Pull "the Scheme of the Century" at the Expense of Belarusians

What is the sense of the dictator's agrarian scheme?

Lukashenka pulled the scheme of the century in Belarusian agriculture: multi-billion dollar debts of the industry to the banks are now the burden of taxpayers, popular Belarusian blogger d-zholik writes.

This April-May the ruler issued three decrees aimed at financial rehabilitation of agricultural enterprises of Homel, Hrodna and Mahilyou regions. About a hundred enterprises (meat-packing plants, milk plants, bread factories, collective farms) fall under their influence.

Regional Executive Committees (oblispolkoms) are required to issue bonds in Belarusian rubles and foreign currency equaled to the amount of the debt of organizations listed in decrees as of the beginning of 2017; to cover the principal debt and unpaid interest for the use of loans issued by Belvnesheconombank, Belinvestbank, Belagroprombank, Belarusbank and the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus.

With the view of their further placement by means of a closed sale to the state Belagroprombank, Belarusbank and the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus, with a fixed maturity limit of 1 March 2027 and a monthly interest on profit below the market rate. With a simultaneous buy-out of assets on credits from creditor banks by oblispolkoms at the expense of funds raised by issue of bonds and by concluding claim assignment agreements for a term of the full performance of obligations under loan agreements.

As a result of a complex multi-move combination, banks have to artificially dispose of bad asset and immediately buy them back with the discount in the form of open interest, for the intermediary presented as oblispolkoms.

At that, Lukashenka's decrees directly order the Homel Regional "Council of Deputies", Hrodna and Mahilyou Regional "Council of Deputies" to allow for funds in regional budgets to cover yield on bonds issued by relevant oblispolkoms and their full repayment when adjustments to regional budget indicators for 2017 and generation of draft regional budgets for 2018-2027 years.

The guarantor of the Constitution legally obliged the branch of power not under his jurisdiction to carry out the specified activity at the expense of taxpayers (electors) and under the threat of criminal responsibility. Things stipulated by decrees:

Guilty activity of officials proven by improper or untimely implementation of provisions of the Decree and resulted in the damage to state property or significant damage to state or public interests are subject to criminal liability under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus if there are grounds.

A separate paragraph of the decree on support for agricultural and industrial organizations of the Mahilyou region Lukashenka comes from has been labeled "Confidential". It may be assumed that it affects the precarious state of the agrarian complex of the Shklou region, the former land of ex-director of the Horodets collective farm.

The next paragraph instructs the Ministry of Energy to ensure Babruisk meat packing plant with a three-year installment payment of debt for natural gas, electricity and hot water.

A particular enterprise and a number of agro-based holdings in the region, including OAO Babushkina Krynka - the managing company of the Mahilyou dairy company Babushkina Krynka - have been granted repayment by installments on budget loans and penalties to republican, regional budgets, budgets of Mahilyou and Babruisk for a period of 3-5 years and with delay of 2 years.

In total, Lukashenka ordered to spend billions of denominated Belarusian rubles and hundreds of millions of foreign currency on "preservation" of the banking sector and the agro-industrial complexes of three regions.

Huge sums will be spent on other scheme instead of financing and development of the social sphere (education, health care, culture) through taxes. First, under the order of the ruler great sums were granted to agricultural sphere and it drove it into a debt pit, and now, ten years later, taxpayers will have to pay compensations to commercial banks.

This is the very sense of the "Belarusian economic miracle".