6,000 Protesters Gathered In Center Of Minsk, 5,000 In Hrodna :: Charter'97 :: News

About 6 thousand individual entrepreneurs gathered by noon in the October Square of Minsk on March 1. Today they start an infinite strike, demanding to abolish the 18% value-added tax for them. The protest was supported by the markets “Zhdanovichy”, “Dinamo”, and by vendors working in the markets of other cities. According to the internet-source “Pahonya”, a protest rally of about 5,000 people takes place in Hrodna at the moment.

The protesters are going to hand in their petition to Alyaksandr Lukashenka. His residence is situated on the other side of the Skaryny Avenue, close to the October Square. The participants of the protest are holding placards and banners: “Down with VAT!”, “18% of VAT – Maybe, You Want Us Pay 100%?”, “Just let us work quietly!”.

By 1 p.m. the strikers and police had not taken any dynamic actions. Meanwhile, additional police forces were gathered to the center of the city, the BelaPAN informs.

In Hrodna representatives of the authorities came out to the protesters. They are trying to persuade people to disband.