How Western Corporations Fund Lukashenka's Propaganda

Human rights activists are calling on businesses to stop supporting the dictatorial regime.

Two of the three commercials broadcast on the Belarusian state television were made in the interests of large corporations from Europe and the United States. This is evidenced by the analysis carried out by the German-Swiss human rights organization Libereco - Partnership for Human Rights, which has been defending human rights in Belarus for more than ten years, Deutsche Welle reports.

As noted in the press release of human rights defenders, published on Wednesday, August 4, the experts of the organization, during the week from 12 to 18 July, observed and evaluated advertising blocks on three state TV channels: Belarus 1, ONT and STV in the evening prime time (from 7 up to 10 pm). Of the 874 advertisements shown, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) came from Western companies. Belarusian advertisers own about 25 percent of advertising. The remaining 12 percent was shared by companies from India, Russia and Turkey. The commercials are shown immediately before, after and during political programs and news broadcasts that have an obvious propaganda format, as indicated in the message.

Among Western corporations, American concerns are in the lead with a total share of 32 percent. The absolute leader here is Procter & Gamble (USA, 100 videos). Next come Nestlé (Switzerland, 79), Mars (USA, 44), Henkel (Germany, 43), Colgate-Palmolive (USA, 37), Sandoz (Switzerland, 35), Coca-Cola (USA, 35), PepsiCo ( USA, 33), Dr. Theiss Naturwaren (Germany, 32) and Mondelez International (29, USA). Also, 82 commercials were shown for Carlsberg (Denmark), L'Oréal and Sanofi (both France), Dolorgiet (Germany), GlaxoSmithKline (UK), Śnieżka (Poland) and Gedeon Richter (Hungary).

End financial support for the regime

"For a year now, the Lukashenka regime has been terrorizing its own population, even the last PR manager should have known this. The fact that global brands such as Procter & Gamble, Mars, Henkel, Coca-Cola or PepsiCo are still and largely advertised on the dictator’s propaganda channels is a scandal. The companies obviously care only about their profits, they don’t care about the catastrophic human rights situation in Belarus," said Marco Fieber, chairman of the German branch of Libereco. He accused the Western corporations of "moral bankruptcy."

Human rights activists recalled the criminal statistics of the unrecognized ruler of Belarus over the past 12 months: more than 40,000 arrests, at least 1,800 documented reports of torture and more than 600 political prisoners. Libereco called on all companies from the EU, the US, Switzerland and the UK to immediately stop showing commercials on Belarusian state TV channels and thus end financial support for the Lukashenka regime.