Lukashenko Was Presented With An Impressive "bill"

The dictator is failing on failure.

The "Salidarnasts" asked Belarusians inside Belarus what changes in the country they had paid attention to recently and what innovations had affected their lives. The result was a large-scale criticism of Lukashenko's failures in the most important areas for people. The names of all interlocutors have been changed for security reasons.

Larisa (57 years old):

- The latest thing is the limit of mobile Internet. Already at the dacha if you watch one movie, the second is not enough. My husband used to be able to download hours of music. Now if he downloads it, we will all be without internet. And I sometimes still need to work.

So now we choose - either music or movies, or work. We had to change the tariff to a more expensive one, but even that is still limited.

This winter I heard about accidents: both in Malinovka and Sukharevo because of various breakthroughs we were sitting without water, without light or without everything at once.

We had a very small accident, it was eliminated in a couple of hours. But now I have an empty container for water at home just in case.

From what I noticed, in the entrances stopped cleaning at all. I used to see someone with rags at least once a year. I haven't seen that for a long time.

In autumn there was a period when Pakistani, Indians and other foreigners were constantly on my eyes everywhere, as a rule, they stood in groups in the center with some bags and things.

In polyclinics and hospitals there are also a lot of foreign doctors from Africa, the Middle East, Asia. Against their background it seems that Slavic doctors are a minority. Maybe it doesn't seem so.

And I see a lot of Chinese too, for example, in supermarkets. Most of them are in office suits. I don't know what they do here.

Olga (46 years old):

- Over the past few years, we have completely forgotten that there is state free medicine. Even with a cold, our family goes to a private clinic.

A couple of years ago I tried to go to my local doctor, I was told in plain text: you work, so you can pay for a gastroscopy, and the queue is full of pensioners.

I also once learned that in the district polyclinics should be mammography and allegedly women after 40 in priority for examination. I tried to call to make an appointment and was told that there is a mammograph, but it has been broken for a long time. Why they do not fix, I do not know.

And tests more complicated than the general also do not really make in the usual polyclinic. So we stopped going there.

In general, the present time with what was even in 2019, it is difficult to compare. Back then, we lived in another country and made plans related to this country. Now nobody makes such plans anymore.

We connected our future, some hopes with Belarus. Now I and my acquaintances have only one goal - to get my children out of here as soon as possible.

My circle of acquaintances no longer connects any future with this country. As parents, they have unequivocally come to the conclusion that this is not a country for our children to live in.

I am an entrepreneur. In 2020, the sole proprietor had a flat tax of 5%. Then almost all types of activities, including mine, were transferred to income tax of 20%.

And since last year they began to count deductions to the Federal Social Security Fund differently. As a result, I began to pay three times more. This is tangible. It seems that my income has increased over the years, but the authorities are always looking for ways to cut it.

That such measures do not contribute to the development of private business is putting it mildly. In my opinion, entrepreneurs in Belarus exist only out of some stubbornness.

Irina Petrovna (71 years old):

- Probably everyone knows how pensioners live. We seem to have some percentages added to our pensions, but, to be honest, I don't even calculate them. Because the advance of price growth is such that I have fallen to this poverty threshold and have been standing on it for a couple of years.

Now I buy products of the cheapest segment. I don't even look at fruits and vegetables, I know I can't afford them. Apples cost 5 rubles!

But today was a pension, and I could not resist, bought myself one avocado for 2.40 and two bananas. For example, if I buy dumplings, I calculate how many days I can stretch one pack for.

As for medical care, if my children did not pay for me to see doctors in private clinics, I would not allow myself anything. There at the gastroenterologist appointment costs 60 rubles, and the neurologist in general 120.

But now I'm not even worried about the financial situation, but how my emotional state has changed. In the sense that I have no hope that around something will change in the near future.

Everything has stopped at one point and is not moving anywhere. It's hard for me to realize this. I used to live with a sense of flight, I am a very energetic, inquisitive person, I always believed in the future.

Now my children and grandchildren have been forced to leave, and I live with a sense of constraint and fear, which has completely enslaved me.

I have very reduced communication, because there is no trust in people, everyone is afraid of everything. The difference between those who left and those who stayed is intensifying. We live here as if with a countdown, with a minus sign, going backwards.

But I look at those who left, relatives, acquaintances, they live with a plus sign, despite the fact that it is hard for them. But they are moving forward.

I used to love to walk in Yanka Kupala Park, in the Alexander Square. I haven't been there for a long time and the day before yesterday I went there - empty benches. Once everything was full. Now I don't see life on the streets of the city and it's so surprising for me. I guess young people sit in cafes and restaurants, I don't know. But where are the rest of them?

I used to be a theater girl, now I don't go anywhere, because I have neither money nor appropriate shoes for the theater. I have no money to change my closet at all.

Travel is getting more expensive, and I would like to have some kind of travel ticket, if not free, then at least preferential.

Anastasia (43 years old):

- We felt the payment for utilities very much, because the apartment is registered to a relative, a "deadbeat". And in winter we felt the work of the utilities themselves, because in our neighborhood snow was practically not removed. Only a tractor came to clear the parking lot. The rest we cleaned ourselves.

The janitor in our house is long gone, he disappeared about a year ago. Neither the entrance nor the surrounding area is cleaned.

In the house itself, the neighbors have changed about half in the last five years. As far as we were friends with all the old ones, we don't even get to know the new ones.

With a dog you can't go anywhere just like that, only with a muzzle and a short leash. When she appeared, we used to ride with her in transportation, and nobody touched us. Now they have adopted new rules for transporting dogs in transport.

Not long ago I saw a scene on a bus, people came in with a yorkie in a carrier, and the driver didn't want to go because, you see, you can't have a dog in transport without a muzzle. Passengers were shocked and asked him where they sold muzzles for yorkies.

Now it will be necessary and obligatory to register dogs. But most of them were already registered. Do they really hope to collect a lot of money from the remaining ones?

But when there is no money at all, probably any amount will do. First they started to charge everyone for apartments, and now they are going to charge for dogs. I wonder if they will take into account the village dogs.

But the main thing we give this money for is that there have never been and there are no dog parks in our neighborhood. Many places have restricted entry with dogs. Instead of developing such infrastructure.

We have sent our children to study in other countries. They used to choose between our universities. But the quality of education has fallen very much. Good teachers continue to leave schools.

Plus we have greatly increased the admission of target students, cutting the fee-paying and budgetary students. And target students have different requirements, they do not necessarily have a high score. In general, our children have not found a place to study here.

Prices are rising constantly, my husband and I have calculated that over the past two years our usual food basket has risen in price by 30%. Now you pay 50 rubles in the store, and there is almost nothing in the bag.

Luckily, I can afford sports, it is very distracting.

The last time I was at a concert was in 2020. Since then, I do not like those artists who come to us.

But sometimes we go with friends to the theater. Tickets to all began to buy up almost two months in advance. I don't understand the frenzy around TYUZ at all. My friends went there because there were still plays in Belarusian language. We took tickets to RTBD, also for a Belarusian play.

Ekaterina (51 years old):

- This winter during the frosts I paid three times more for heating. We live in our own house, we have a gas boiler.

In general, personally, my financial situation has worsened in recent years. Even in small things, for example, I stopped doing manicures. Until 2020 I could afford to give 50 rubles for it once a month, now it probably costs more, but for me 50 is already expensive.

I did not often used to go somewhere, but now from the mere thought that there is no such opportunity in principle, a completely different feeling from life.

We live very closed. A few years ago we moved to a different neighborhood. It is interesting that in the old days in the old place we knew all the neighbors and in general was normal, there, walked by and came in, sat and talked, exchanged seedlings.

And now no one visits anyone, only say hello and then not with everyone.

Another sign of this time is that when I start looking at something on the Internet, my husband always asks me to close the windows - you are afraid already on automatic.

Alexander (52 years old):

- I work at a construction site and I know that Belarusian companies have actually applied for specialists to be sent from Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh - from the whole region. Such an opportunity appeared last year. And our company also applied to the agency.

In fact, 90% of those who come, indicating that they are concrete workers, plasterers and painters, in fact, have nothing to do with construction. At most 10% of those who come were really some kind of specialists.

They are satisfied with our salaries. We asked, in some countries they get 100 dollars a month. At our construction site, a worker can earn 1000 dollars today. Why don't Belarusians stand in line to earn such money? Because there are no such people.

There are simply physically no people, normal, responsible, non-drinkers. Many of those who are left, how to call them softly... In general, they come, of course, but they work till the first paycheck at most.

That's why everyone invites Pakistanis, and even trains those who are ready to learn. And there are no middle-aged Belarusians willing to work not only in construction. As far as I know, this stratum of people is absent in other spheres as well. And this is what I couldn't help noticing lately.

But I see foreigners regularly at construction sites, and I have also seen them at collective farms, where they work as cattle breeders and milkers. Do they save the situation? In fact, they are better than many Belarusians, who are now asking for work. At least they don't drink.

I noticed that there are no our MAZs at the construction sites, only "Chinese" trucks. I don't know where our equipment goes - to Russia or African countries - where they are competitive, but we don't have them.

And what pleases the eye, I began to notice that if after 2020 there was a trend and a lot of things were closed in the sphere of catering, now, the trend has changed and, on the contrary, some cozy places are opening all the time, the infrastructure is expanding.

But the isolation of the country adds pessimism. There is no technical development. I am a curious person, I always look at what is going on in the world and compare how we are doing. And we have nothing going on. It's a shame that the country is lagging behind. The whole world has long been making electric cars, and we are happy with gasoline-powered Belzhi.

From personal inconveniences, the lack of normal television channels - Eurosport, Discovery. Of course, you can watch them through sharing, but not so convenient.

And even me, the father of daughters, is frightened by all this militarization. Everywhere you look there are billboards with military and representatives of law enforcement agencies. This is the main direction that propaganda is blowing up now, and it's very noticeable.

I find it depressing. In their understanding, this is patriotism. But what does it consist in? Killing people? We are a small state, which means the point of all this militarization is just a huge waste of money. We can neither defend ourselves nor attack anyone. And why?

In my opinion, we should go the other way, we should negotiate with all our neighbors, not threaten them.

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