Leonid Malakhov: We’ll Act Most Decisively :: Charter'97 :: News

One of the initiators of the People’s March “For Better Life!”, co-chairman of the public association “Private Property” Leonid Malakhov received on February 15 a letter from the Minsk inspection of the Ministry of taxation with a claim to present within the following 10 days an income and tax declaration, covering the period of the past six years. Failure to obey the order will entail huge fine. Malakhov was handed in this letter a few hours after the meeting of the leaders of entrepreneurial structures, at which they consented to the coordination of efforts in their common struggle for their rights.

Leonid Malakhov tends to believe that this sudden demand to present income declaration was in no wise accidental:

- I’m indignant! As a law-abiding citizen I’m ready to present such a declaration, but it’s very difficult to recall all property deals and incomes for such a lengthy period. As an individual entrepreneur I submit my tax declaration on an annual basis to the district inspection and see little necessity to fill it out one more time. Why not making a concomitant inquiry into the district commission, I wonder? I consider this policy to be a response to our intensified activism, that is our concerted efforts on holding People’s March “For Better Life!” on March 12. The government is using their favorite arsenal: threats, intimidations and provocations. However, we are unstoppable and will act very decisively.

- Not so long ago the three of you – Valery Levonevsky, Anatoly Shumchenko and yourself – were adherents of various, even contradicting methods of fighting for the rights of entrepreneurs. And each one of you considered his technique to be most effective. How come, you changed your minds so drastically?

- The thing is, today we are united by one problem, that is violation of entrepreneurial rights. Moreover, the most poignant problem both for the businessmen and other population strata is poverty. The majority of Belarusians have already been driven beyond the poverty line. Having assessed our activities over the past year we determined that only joint efforts could enable us to reach the goal, which is before us.

And so we came up with an initiative to hold common meeting in order to discuss the ways in which we can unite our efforts in order to work together in one direction. Each of the participants agreed that only together we can change the state of affairs for the better and attain the ultimate goal – earn decent living.

- Can we hope that your unification is a long-term project?

- I am convinced that our cooperation will be effective. Whether or not it will be long-term depends on how soon we attain the goals set. Hopefully, for as long as we have common problems, we’ll stay together. I can assure you that I will personally do my best in order to avoid any inner conflicts from occurring in the future. The meeting revealed that our views concerning the future of Belarus pretty much converge. All of us are longing to change life for the better. And since our views are the same, we will stay shoulder to shoulder together.

-What can be expected of the united entrepreneurs in the future?

- The central event will surely be the People March “For Better Life!”, which we upheld altogether. In our joint communiqué on the matter we called upon all of the Belarusian businessmen to most actively engage in the March. On March 12 all country’s entrepreneurs will hold a one-day national strike, take to the streets in central Minsk and march together.

The People’s March is the central but in no wise the only event of the future. A fortnight ago there have been passed decrees #3-4 and order #42, which pursue the goal of ruining our business. In this connection we plan to carry out a range of protests in Minsk and throughout the country. We have already laid out our basic demands in the common statement. Should they ignore us one more time, we will embark on decisive actions and make it through to the very end.