Aliaksandr Yarashuk: Authorities need money, not culture

The Belarusian regime doesn't take culture seriously.

Aliaksandr Yarashuk, the chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions, spoke to charter97.org about a 25% staff cut in the cultural sector.

“In my opinion, there are two reasons. The first one, everyone knows it, is that the country has faced a very difficult economic situation. The Belarusian authorities are looking for every opportunity to cut expenses and find sources of income. Every day we see interesting and funny examples of how the Belarusian authorities look for money,” the trade union leader said.

He added that the second reason was the attitude of the Belarusian regime towards culture as a component of economy.

“It's looks okay if we look at the declarations. But when it comes to actions, no one takes culture seriously. It's not sport, the sector that attracts attention. We see how the Belarusian authorities regard culture,” Yarashuk thinks.

He notes that the Federation of Belarusian Trade Unions has the trade union of cultural professionals.

“I don't know how it will react to this step. Perhaps like the Federation reacts to things. It is not a trade union, it is a part of the government system. The Soviet Union treated culture as a secondary area, which was wrong. It led to miserable salaries in the sector. This practice was adopted by the Belarusian government. I am sorry for cultural professionals. They often sacrifice themselves because they adore what they do. Salaries often don't stop them. The state must support such fans of the Belarusian culture by all means instead of laying them off,” Aliaksandr Yarashuk is convinced.

We remind that the board of the Ministry of Culture announced a 25% staff cut in the cultural sector.