Viktar Kalej: “We have no backing space”
3
10:19, — Politics
Viktar Kalej was one of the applicants and organizers of the all-country meeting of individual entrepreneurs which gathered more than a thousand of participants from all parts of Belarus on Kastrychnitskaya Square in Minsk on Monday. An internet-source Camarade.biz has asked him to tell about the reasons that had caused people to stage the protest, and about next joint actions of individual entrepreneurs in defense of their rights.
- People have been forced to take to the streets by the decree No. 760 signed by Alyaksandr Lukashenka. It comes in force on January 1, 2008. Despite of the pressure of administrations of markets, local authorities and secret services, the bravest entrepreneurs gathered to state that forcible creation of private unitary enterprises is an attempt to dispose of private entrepreneurs and leave thousands of people unemployed. Private unitary enterprises will increase tax burden on entrepreneurs immensely, while for many of them to make both ends meet is a problem already. A private unitary enterprise means additional costs for premises to be given a legal address, for accounting and bookkeeping. A private unitary enterprise means fines for any mistake would grow several times. A private unitary enterprise is a necessity to have documents for any, even the littlest batch of goods or expendable materials.
Thus a private unitary enterprise is an inevitable ruin for many thousands of private entrepreneurs. And to remain in a status of a private entrepreneur is impossible for most of them under this unfortunate decree. Under the decree, an individual entrepreneur may have a limited number of relatives as his hired help. And what about those who are not relatives, and where they should go, especially in small towns where no other job could be found by them? How could individual entrepreneurs like single mothers, pregnant and nurturing mothers do without hired help who are not their relatives?
The decree has put many families to the verge of poverty. That is why the protest takes place. it manifested not only in Minsk, but in other small and big towns of the country. Hundreds of people have come to employment offices to be registered as unemployed. Protest rallies in front of local authorities have taken place as well.
The aim of all protests of individual entrepreneurs is a reversal of unconstitutional decree. We have submitted out demands to the “chamber of representatives”, and we shall press for their fulfillment. In case the regime wouldn’t cooperate, non-violent rallies to be continued by entrepreneurs. Since January 1, 2008 thousands of individual entrepreneurs are ready to take an annual leave guaranteed by the Constitution without paying the single tax. We have no backing space. If we give up, unemployment will grow in the country, a number of hungry families will grow, queues in shops will grow. Not only individual entrepreneurs, but customers will be affected,” Viktar Kalej said.
News
on topic
