05/16/2011 “Tomorrow of your country”

“Officials have become a burden to the budget.”

Alexandra ANTONOVICH Among the neighboring countries, Belarus is the leader in the number of ministries and the “bloatedness” of the administrative apparatus. Asked the question: what is the army of officials doing, the experts of “Tomorrow of your country” came to the conclusion that in a situation of monetary and financial instability, the country badly needs a conceptually different state apparatus. It is cheaper to provide officials with benefits than salary According to the chairman of the Belarusian Union of Entrepreneurs Alexander Kalinin, Belarus occupies one of the first places in the post-Soviet space in terms of the number of ministries and officials who “create each other’s work.” “The state machinery is excessively blown up, and the situation in the country speaks about the effectiveness of its work,” the expert notes. The state machine in Belarus is clumsy. She is not able to react flexibly to the situation in the economy. – Besides, officials often give out wishful thinking. For example, it is unreasonable to talk about export-oriented production, if 60-90 percent of imported components are purchased. One thing is the reports on paper, the other is the situation. Probably, attempts by officials to make the economy export-oriented were not so intense, since the country now needs currency, as in the air, – believes Marina Naidovich, director of the small business incubator ZAO MAP ZAO. According to the expert, the role of officials is reduced to bringing the forecast indicators and order. Everything is solved in a Soviet way. “The directors of wholesale enterprises are called and ordered to deliver a certain amount of products, for example, buckwheat,” says Marina Naidovich. – But there is no currency, and the wholesalers do not produce cereals, they buy it. Let the officials have asked about the currency for the purchase of the same buckwheat. But we have, in addition to their order, do not actually give anything to business. The conclusion of the experts: it’s time to cut down the state machinery, which is mostly able to function in this way, and do not spend budget funds on its maintenance. – Perhaps it would be easier to give officials some kind of benefits than salaries? – reflects Marina Naidovich. – They have very large salaries, and this burden falls on the shoulders of taxpayers. It’s not the size, but efficiency. According to the chairman of the Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers. Professor Kunyavsky George Badeia, the issue of reducing the size of the state apparatus is not paramount. The expert suggests analyzing: what are the officials doing? – If they continue, as before, bring the forecast indicators and monitor their implementation, then such a device is generally not needed. If he worked to create, to multiply the economy, maybe he should have been increased several times. In other words, the matter is not in the size of the state apparatus, but in its effectiveness, the leader of entrepreneurs is convinced. George Baday stresses: if the work of the state apparatus, especially those structures that deal with macroeconomics, was correctly built, the country would not come to currency collapse. “Five to ten years ago it was necessary to foresee where we are going,” the expert believes. – If this was not seen or seen, but did not take measures, then what kind of efficiency can the state apparatus be talking about? Take, for example, cheap credit resources, which were distributed to everyone for the construction of housing for 40 years at 5 percent per annum. Of course, housing needs to be built, but this should be done for the money earned with the support of the state. And it actually gave away money for free. According to experts, a radical change in the scheme of work of the state machinery is quite realistic and this is an urgent necessity. And in the Presidential Directive No. 4, and in the decree on the year of enterprise, it is said that everything must be radically changed. And it is impossible to do this if you leave the former incompetent state apparatus. – Why do we need it in this form? It is necessary to get rid of it faster. At least, it will ease the burden on the budget, – sums up George Badei.