Nothing Personal - Just Business. A look at politics in Belarusian workplace

When a visitor arrives in Minsk, it doesn't seem too much different from other post-soviet capitals: you see neon advertising, McDonald's, and Audis and BMWs alongside Russian Ladas. On state-run TV and newspapers, there are mentions of a political opposition, and it seems like there is a democratic process in the country. Capitalism and democracy have made their way to the capital of Belarus. Or have they?

Dzmitry A. * worked in the Belarusian office of a well-known foreign company. He had come to Minsk from Moscow, where he had studied at the Moscow State University and worked as a translator and editor. He came to Minsk where his wife is from, and lives there with her and their two children. He didn't make a secret of his political views, and even though he wasn't a member of any oppositional organization, he took part in the protests last spring. What made him take part in them?

His answer was quick: 

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"No company can work in an honest way"

1. illegitimate government
2. lack of democratic elections
3. lack of independent media
4. terrible state of economy which keeps on worsening

"No company can work in an honest way", Dzmitry says, "Because the taxes and fees you have to pay are above 100% of what you are making. It is really impossible to work. Everybody avoids paying taxes one way or another, so the government can audit and imprison anyone whatsoever" The infamous Belarusian social programs, that Lukashenka and his supporters like to boast about as something that make Belarus more livable than Russia or Ukraine, is another story. "You even have to pay for textbooks at school - which you then have to return!" says Dzmitry. "Oh, and then there's teeth" he jokes. "A dentist visit costs more than it does in Moscow. Because they raised the taxes so high for these kinds of services, all the dentists simply left - for places like Moscow"

He tells a story of how his involvement in politics came in handy when his company's executive came to Minsk for an audit. She asked about the political situation, what about Lukashenka, what about Kazulin... Since the Division head (also a foreigner) didn't have much of an idea of what's happening on the political scene, he asked Dzmitri to answer those questions. "Everybody in the office turned their heads to me (I was sitting in the back). SO, I gave them the picture. Everybody was happy, the Division head was happy, but the executive lady was the happiest. When she was leaving, she kept shaking my hand."

Every year, a peaceful protest rally takes place in Minsk, called "Charnobylski Shliah". It takes place on March 26, the anniversary of the nuclear catastrophe in Charnobyl in 1986, when the Communist government of Belarus failed to inform the citizens of the radioactive danger they were exposed to. Dzimitry was going to attend the 2006 rally, and invited, if only jokingly, his colegues to come alone.

The day before the rally, at 4:30 pm, Dzmitry was called to the Division head's office, to get a surprise: the company's staff was being downsized, specifically his position. "If you quit right now, today, you get a severance package, three months required by law, plus two more. I had to agree, because I was a contractor, and if I hadn't signed, my contract would not have been renewed, and I'd have to leave without any compensation. The whole thing was done in an hour and a half. Not a word about politics. Downsizing - period."

Dzmitry found out that it was indeed about politics - so the boss said to the company's lawyer and chief accountant, neither of whom would never confirm it in court. His collegues suggested that KGB may have given the Division head a call and suggested that he get rid of him. "It turns out," Dzmitry says, "that one of the security guards at the company worked for KGB, and another employee regularly informs KGB about contracts...So there is a bunch of ways this could have happened." Dzmitry doesn't know whose idea it was to lay him off. "In person, everybody was very sympathetic, all hugs and kisses" Dzmitry can't go to court over this, as nobody will testify. That's why he's not naming the company: "It would be a case libel".

While Dzmitry is upset about what happened, he is not quick to blame the company. "They represent a foreign firm, which means they have almost no rights here. If they got KGB telling them to fire me, their refusal would mean the end of their business here. All their government connections would be cut off, and they wouldn't be able to work."

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Such is the reality behind the neon lights of advertising in Minsk.

Such is the reality behind the neon lights of advertising in Minsk. It looks civilized on the outside, but it is very much like the good old Soviet days on the inside. The Big Brother is still watching you, and even having contact with any "undesirables" can get you in serious trouble. The most active resistance protestors get a police club, 15 days in jail, or five years in prison, while their sympathizers get taken care of in more subtle ways.

"Don't ask me why I took part in the protests," says Dzmitry. "What should be asked is why the 50% of our population, who let Lukashenka stay in power, why they keep quiet. Granted, a good portion of these people are Lukashenka's servants, bodyguards, bureaucrats in the government Ministries, and the Spetsnaz. Those people live pretty well. Janitors are also well-off - they have the same salaries as university instructors. The rest must be brainwashed by the local and Russian TV, and support the regime 'as long as there is no war'. But in general, people are so hopeless, they lose themselves into drinking."