1000 organisations on edge of closing
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8:56, — Politics
Today the decree under which the rent for premises for non-governmental organisations which are not engaged in businesses activities is increased by 10 times comes into force.
As it has been estimated by experts, a radical hike in price of a square meter of premises can lead to closing of more than 1000 civil society associations over the country.
Heads of a number of public associations have addressed Prime Minister Syarhei Sidorski, the head of the presidential administration Henadz Nyavyhlas, and the Secretary of State of the Security Council Viktar Shejman a letter asking to reconsider plans for changing the rent. According to the decree of Alyaksandr Lukashenka, since April 24 the rent for public associations increases in 10 times, while the earlier reducing coefficient of 0.1 is cancelled, Radio Svaboda informs.
It is underlined in the letter: public associations which are not engaged in business activities would be placed into a critical situation financially. The chairman of Minsk union of entrepreneurs Uladzimir Karahin agrees with this fact:
“It mostly concerns the commission on rental fee created by the Presidential Property Management Department particularly for that purpose. The head of the Presidential Property Management Department is at the same time the chairman of this commission. We were writing letters substantiating a number of issues including rental fees for non-commercial unions of entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, we haven’t been given a positive answer yet. So since April 25 we are to pay the new rent, as now the new method of payment in advance for a month is adopted. The rules changed 3 months ago, and in April we are to pay the higher price already. I want to remind that public associations and non-commercial organisations do not have a right to carry out any kind of activities, they live on membership fees. Under the decree No.300 it is forbidden for them to accept sponsors’ donations from legal entities and foreign organisations. It means that in fact they have no sources of income”.
Representatives of many public associations have already stated that there is a threat to their organisations’ further existence. The chairman of the Belarusian society of monuments protection Anton Astapovich believes that the regime wants to liquidate the third sector via economic means, as it is mostly disloyal to the current regime. Until today the standard rate was 10 Euro per 1 square meter, and 1 Euro for those having allowances.
The chairman of the Belarusian society of appraisers Mikalay Tryfanau says that fees collected from 200 members of the union are enough to pay reduced rent and pay salary to a bookkeeper. In case the rent would increase tenfold, the organisation would be put on the brink of ruin. The chairman of the Belarusian Society of Belarusian language Aleh Trusau in an address to Belarusian citizens writes that the organisation is to pay 850 Euro a month for its Minsk head office. This sum is impossible for the organisation engaged in educational activities.
A deputy chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions Mikalay Kanakh attracts attention to the fact that the new norm is not applied to all organisations equally. Thus, the pro-regime Federation of Trade Union of Belarus and its affiliates have retained the reducing coefficient. Independent trade unions do not have such privileges.
