‘If Lukashenka Comes, They Will Clean Everything But It Will Change Nothing’

How one of the most depressed regions of Belarus lives.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka makes several business trips per month. However, there are places where Lukashenka never came. The Sianno district, and the Vitsebsk region as a whole, remain a poor and depressed region of Belarus compared to other areas. It is worse only in Mahiliou. This place has one of the lowest wages in the region, the highest mortality rate and a significant population outflow, reports Radio Svaboda.

Over the past 30 years, the population of the region has halved. This is more than Sianno district lost during the World War II. And this is despite the fact that in Soviet times this region had the same status that the Shklou district has today. After all, Piotr Masherau comes from here.

Why Lukashenka does not come to the Sianno district is another question.

“I have a normal salary. For 16 days, I was paid BYN 215”.

Mikhail from the village of Khodtsy works on a tractor:

- I have been working in housing and communal services for 7 years. I collect garbage. I have 13 villages, it’s just me. From cabin to cabin. I'm just a driver, I am supposed to have a loader with me. But no. I work alone from morning to evening.

Our housing and utilities infrastructure is the largest office in Sianno. All enterprises were closed. The flax plant, it was long ago. Our enterprise remains the only thing that’s still working.

We used to have our own collective farm. It was a big one. Better than in Belaya Lipa. And they paid such a big salary! Our Khodtsy probably were the richest in the area. In the 1990s, we were closed, merged with Belaya Lipa. Now people go elsewhere for work - to Masherau, to wherever. Few people work here.

I have a normal salary. For 16 days, they paid me BYN 215 rubles. I still work here on a collective farm on a tractor. This is “Belarus-80”, it is already 30 years old. It has already been written off as the old one. But the tractor is strong, it drives perfectly.

Many young people die here. My father died at 37. How many people used to live here in Khodtsy! How many young people were at the disco! And now they are gone, there is silence. In the summer, people walk a little. And in the winter, there’s wild empty space. Work - home, home - work.

“In order to have something to eat, many go to Russia. Now I don’t even have 2 kapeykas in my pocket.”

Siarhei from the village of Mashkany, a stove-setter, said that he went to Russia to earn money:

- I have not watched TV for six months already. There are identical films, shows, news. I do not know what is happening in the world. Just live my life. I do not want to delve into some other problems. I need to buy a house and start a family. Nothing more interests me.

It is believed that we have the best economy. Because the name of Masherau still means something. I moved here from Zadarozhzha in 2008, because there was one farm left, no work at all. But what is going on here? For 11 years, it only got worse. I have 15 or 20 entries in my workbook. As soon as the opportunity arises, I change jobs. Accommodation is what keeps me here. When you work at a collective farm, they give you where to live. If you leave, you should automatically vacate the apartment. Yes, all would have left a long time ago, to be honest, if it were not for housing.

Let Lukashenka come to us. They will start the fuss here, paint the grass. But it will not change anything.

In order to have something to eat, many go to Russia. 60-70 thousand rubles a month can be earned (about BYN 2 thousand). And if it’s a normal organization or firm - 100 and 120 thousand are possible. I have worked one season in Russia, and in winter I am sitting here fishing, do not refuse anything to myself.

Now I don’t even have 2 kapeykas in my pocket. I am waiting for a May salary. I worked 408 hours in one month. But they will only pay me in July. And I do not know how much. How to live until then? I have hands. I can make an oven.