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NEXTA: Belarusian Builders Report Large-Scale Crisis In The Field

NEXTA: Belarusian Builders Report Large-Scale Crisis In The Field

The Union of Builders of Belarus is ringing the alarm bell.

The NEXTA Telegram channel published a letter from the leadership of the Union of Builders of Belarus addressed to Deputy Prime Minister Uladzimir Kukharau, revealing the crisis in the field of construction: all construction companies in the country have become unprofitable or operate on the verge of low profitability.

A letter on 15 pages from the board of the Union of Builders, authored by Chairman of the organization Mikalai Sharamet was sent to Deputy Prime Minister Uladzimir Kukharau on August 20.

Salaries almost halved

The letter notes that the construction industry in Belarus remains in a state of crisis, which was the result of a failure to balance the economic opportunities and legislative requirements, as well as planning without taking into account the situation in foreign and domestic markets.

ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO BY BELSAT.EU

Sharamet notes that in the region there has been a sharp reduction in the number of personnel, primarily qualified personnel. Since 2014, the number of workers in construction has decreased by almost a quarter.

“The prestige of the construction profession is falling,” the author of the letter states.

This phenomenon is directly related to the low salaries of builders. Sharamet cites the following data: if in 2010 318 thousand people worked in construction with an average salary of $ 1000, then in January 2019 there was a little less than 195 thousand left with an average salary of $ 500 (according to the Belarusian Statistical Committee, the average salary of builders as of July was 1271.5 rubles, or approximately $ 625, - Belsat.eu). The appeal notes that the salaries of builders in Belarus are 1.3–2.4 times lower than in Russia, 1.8–3.3 lower than in Poland, and 1.7–5.8 lower than in Lithuania.

ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO BY BELSAT.EU

A decrease in the quality of construction has occurred also due to the fact that, when selecting an organization for the development of a project, state bodies primarily look at the price of the contract, and not at the qualifications of the general contractor. The desire to reduce the cost of construction regardless of everything leads to numerous problems.

“The price should not be the main indicator,” they believe in the Union of Builders of Belarus.

Sharamet writes that in Belarus there is a mismatch between the estimated and actual cost of construction in the context of “the lack of monitoring mechanisms for the current costs of the contractor and subcontractor”.

“As a result, all construction companies have become unprofitable or operate on the verge of low profitability,” the document says.

ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO. RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX NEAR THE “LIABIAZHY” RESERVE. PHOTO BELSAT.EU

According to Sharamet, the current costing standards have nothing to do with the reality, so de facto more work is being done on the projects than planned in the project documentation. The excess of expenses planned in the estimate can sometimes reach 30%. The Union of Builders of Belarus believes that the time has come to “improve the pricing system and estimated normative construction”.

Sharamet also emphasizes that it is necessary to stimulate local initiative and restore such concepts as “innovation” and “invention”. There is simply no local initiative today, he says, since such measures are not paid for.

Sharamet proposes to consider all these problems in the Council of Ministers, asking Kukharau personally to help in this.

ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO. MULTIFUNCTIONAL COMPLEX IN KASTRYCHNITSKAYA STREET. PHOTO: BELSAT.EU

“Why making such noise?”

In a comment to belsat.eu, Mikalai Sharamet did not refute the authenticity of the letter, but expressed indignation at the leak of information.

MIKALAI SHARAMET. PHOTO ZNK.BY

“I do not know who gives this away on the Internet! I will now give the command to the security service so that they will find them all [who disclosed the document - edit.], and I will sue them. ”

The Chairman of the Union of Builders of Belarus did not answer the question whether there was already a reaction to his letter from the Deputy Prime Minister. He assured that the situation in the construction industry is not urgent:

“There is no catastrophe. Everything will be considered in a planned manner. The government does not leave a single question without consideration. Why making such noise? ”

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