European Belarus activist fired from work

• 29.05.2012, 12:16

Yulia Styapanava worked for in Minsk for Swedish company Scandinavian & UK Machines.

The company sells concrete plants and equipment. The girl worked distantly contacting with the director via Skype. Just before the dismissal, Yulia Styapanava had a talk with the director – they discussed work plans. Director Semen Shapkin, who lives in Sweden but was born in the former Soviet Union, said at a meeting on Monday he was not satisfied with Yulia's performance and she would be dismissed in two weeks.

“It's strange he is 'not satisfied', because I met the plan. My task was to send weekly progress reports. He never had complaints. Besides, sanctions of 10% of a salary may be imposed for errors in reports, failure to implement the plan or being late for 10 minutes. Sanctions have never been imposed on me,” Yulia Styapanava told charter97.org. “I gave these arguments and asked what the reason for the dismissal was. The director finally admitted it was my activity.”

A contract with Yulia Styapanava was extended till December 31, 2012. Dismissals on political motives have become a tradition in Belarus. The only thing that raises questions is why a European firm followed this example. The activist thinks the reason was firm's contracts with Belarusian enterprises.