Former Belarusian businessman Vital Manko has been blogging about the real economic situation in the Belarusian town of Kalinkavichy.
Three years ago, two loss-making agricultural cooperatives – Zelyanochy and Nasavichy – were united and attached to Kalinkavichi integrated plant. The authorities wanted to improve their financial situation, but locals claim the things are getting worse.
“In my videos, I have repeatedly asked the district authorities to show their performance. For example, they built a house; a few years it cracked, fungi are seen there. What did they do to make things better?” blogger Vital Manko told Belsat TV.
According to him, 10 years ago there were shops, a bath-house and farms in Zelyanochy village council which comprised five villages. After the merger of the agricultural production co-operatives, the local infrastructure collapsed and people began to leave. Moreover, the cooveratives’ fleet is down now – earlier, they had 30 tractors and 25 trucks. The locals complain of the lack of jobs and payments.
According to employees, the maximum monthly salary is 300 rubles ($140), which is not enough to live on.
The locals support the blogger – nearly 2,000 persons have subscribed for his Youtube channel for six months of its existence. But Viktar Zamostsik, the deputy chairman of Kalinkavichi executive committee, keep slamming him and saying that Manko is ‘biased’. In turn, the blogger speaks at meetings of officials and villagers because he believes that the problem resides in them.
“The system is outdated, they are trying to repair it, but in vain, Thses people are not professionals,” says Manko.
The blogger is bullied via his mobile phone.
