BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

11/09/2007

Belarusian Small Businessmen Protest Decree On Employment Restriction

Some 1,000 owners of small and family firms took part in rallies in Minsk, Homel, and Vitsebsk on September 10 to protest a presidential decree of December 2006, which forbids them to employ people other than three family members as of 2008, Belapan reported. The rally in Minsk adopted an open statement to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka denouncing his decree. "The introduction of the restriction that only three workers may be employed exclusively from among family members is above all aimed against young people and former employees of state organizations and agencies in provinces. The measure will lead to mass reductions and social tensions that will later turn into political ones. Tens of thousands of families will lose their income. The country's budget will lose. The entire country will lose in general," the statement reads. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/09/3-cee/cee-110907.asp