Leanid Zaika: Agrarian Feudalism Set In Belarus

Officials believe that salaries of $150 are enough for Belarusians.

In June the National Bank of Vacancies post the record high jobs - 74.6 thousand. The study of the Bank of Vacancies proved that the majority of employers offer miserable salaries (on average not more than $150).

Charter97.org asked economist, leader of the Strategy Analytical Centre Leanid Zaika to comment on the situation.

- Belarus is the country of the poor. - If we take a look at all problems, a fundamental poverty is its "trade mark" with the salary of €300-400, which is considered a high salary. Especially it concerns towns and small settlements. For example, two days ago I visited Stalbtsy, the small motherland of Dzyarzhynski. There is no work at all after the departure of Felix Edmundovich. People have to work for $100-150. It can be said that the salary of 300 rubles ($150) is high.

From the point of view of behavior psychology, Belarusian officials believe everyone should rush to occupy a vacancy of $150. I stress that the gravest situation is observed in small settlements and towns.

People usually leave for Minsk or Russia seeking a job. Some of them work as builders, servicemen. Entire families work on a rotational basis. Let's say a father and his son with a family. Taking in account such indicators as the quality of a job place and salary, the situation is getting even worse than that of Russia and China.

- Belarusians have to work for a penny. At the same time people can't quit because of the contract system, which is labeled by the International Labour Organization as a new form of slavery.

- The contract system itself is neither the good nor the bad. It's just a legal agreement, but it serves as the sword of Damocles in Belarus. Basically, any wrong move and the contract with you can be broken.

I do not think that Belarusians want to quit and leave for other place; unfortunately, Belarus lacks flexibility at the labour market.

People fail to prioritize. In the rest of the world jobs come first followed by a place to live in, in Belarus, on the contrary, people are tied to their homes and apartments. So the country lacks the flexibility. The new generation of Belarusians repeats the mistake.

Graduates tend to get into debts and buy an apartment. The situation with Germans and Americans differs. They do not buy real estate unless they stand on their own feet. After all, it's a great investment and it's binding. Having paid much money for an apartment, people find themselves hostages of an absolutely unique Belarusian bank model. It turns everyone who takes loans into slaves of its system.

I stress that the issue of the social flexibility of Belarusians is of high priority. And it considers not only the vertical - to become an engineer or director and move to a larger town or city. Not to be bound. Increased economic and social flexibility will result into positive processes. By the way, the authorities are scared of it.

I'd like to note that the young go to study in Poland, Germany, the USA. It is more flexible, but it leaves the country in order not to come back again.

- Is it possible to live on the salary of 300 rubles, which is offered by the very Republican Bank of Vacancies?

-If we carry out an experiment, I can live on 300 rubles. It means I have no car to drive, I can drink a cup of coffee once a week, I eat only the cheapest meat. Things remained are to watch TV and to drink alcohol of poor quality. It's possible to live on it.

By the way, I watched ticket prices for FIFA World Cup 2018 in Kaliningrad. A good place costs $300. That is, three months of hard work in a settlement. The cheapest ticket costs $120-130 dollars, which is the pension of Professor of Philosophy. In general, one can live on it, but watching TV is the only entertainment.

The fact that my fellow professors receive the salary of $250 means that the country has adopted roughly unfair working system and roughly unfair system of assessment of people's contribution to the general welfare. You know, Belarus has set the agrarian feudalism. The country does not need brains. As a rule, specialists leave. I can say for sure that few intelligent young people stay in Belarus.