"Ante up!"

Officials want to live well at the expense of the people.

At the moment, there are arrears in wages, mass dismissals, part-time work at enterprises across the country. At the same time, there is a constant price increase of consumer goods and communal and utility rates. Author of the video blog "Popular Reporter" from Brest Siarhei Pyatrukhin told in the interview to Charter97.org about popular sentiments in the regions.

- In Ivatsevichy preferential housing is built for the chairman of the District Executive Committee not for families with many children. Have you heard about it?

- Such lawlessness on the part of the authorities is not a surprise. Officials build houses everywhere. I know for sure that the chairman of the Ivatsevichy Executive Committee builds his own housing, although he already has a service one.

Speaking of families with many children I'd like to say that this has no longer been a privileged category of the population. On the contrary. Now this is the first category having their electricity cut down or holding liable under Decree No. 18. The state does not care about such families.

The only thing that remainded is the name, no social policy is observed. I know many stories when activists, independent bloggers, indifferent people not the state provided assistance to such families.

- Yesterday it became known that Minsk workers were sent on business trips to Russia, they are paid three times less than it is legally required. Were there similar cases in Brest?

- I have not heard about it, it has poor practice of business trips to Moscow. But there is other thing is notorious phenomenon: people are dismissed, not paid, enterprises work short week.

I constantly hear such stories. I am not able to enumerate all the enterprises. Our main enterprises -a carpet factory, hosiery factory - and then others have adopted that "schedule".

- People find themselves on the street and get pretty penny. And they have to pay the bills anyway... Since September 1 tariffs on housing and communal services have raised. How long will this last?

- People's indignation of the September "rent bills" is only on the way - after all, notifications have not yet received. The non-transparency of our housing and communal services is now more irritating. Ю This is the main option for people's indignation now. It is not possible to find out the real costs.

And the price growth will last as long as this authority is in power and its methods are practiced. There is no money in the country, there is no place to take it from. And the authority milks people. It practices utility tariffs growth, paid day-care centres at schools. It tries to raise money everywhere it is possible. All benefits have been cut, no "benefit holders" exist. And it will last as long as this power "runs the show". The further we go, the more additional taxes are imposed.

After all, how did it all start? First, those with money were "oppressed". Then those with less amount of money were attacked. And now it touches upon everyone. The majority has already faced challenges! There is neither job nor salary, so people are marked as "spongers" and taxed.

When entrepreneurs were dispossessed and they left the country, officials took the social stairs down. And now those without a job have to pay because the authorities neither create new jobs nor attract investments.

They are not able to create anything; their approach is as follows: "Ante up!" "We want to live as good as we got used to. And we do not care what you will do to survive," this is the conversation.

- The Belarusian National Congress announces the March of Angry Belarusians 2.0 on October 20. - Do you think Brest will take protests as severe as they were in the spring?

- I am waiting for people to take the streets. I'm ready to provide informational assistance and to film videos of popular protests. I'm journalist.