Residents of Brest stormed privatization department

• 7.06.2013, 9:47

Riot police had to be called because of the flared up tensions.

An incident took place on 5 June at the department of privatization and accommodation interchange of Brest’s accommodation management agency. Roughly at 2 p.m. a message came to the police station on duty that there was a large number of nervous people and the situation was close to a conflict. Riot policemen came for the call and cleared the premises and remained there until the end of the working day, Evening Brest reports.

The agiotage, caused by another government’s decision on changing the status of non-privatized accommodation for the one ‘for rent’, led to the protests of citizens. As the employees of the privatization explain, the number of personnel had to be significantly increased after the incident. The added personnel will only deal with privatization, and an employee will have up to 30 clients a day.

We would remind that the agiotage arose after the government’s decision to give Belarusians a year to privatize their accommodation. On 5 June Belarus’ prime-minister Mikhail Miasnikovich reported that there was a large number of non-privatized accommodations. In the draft decree it is suggested that citizens have an opportunity to privatize the accommodations within a year, otherwise it will be available for the government to lend.

“The newer the building is, the more expensive it is. For example, in Minsk’s Frunze district the privatization of a typical one-bedroom apartment will cost from 35 million Belarusian roubles in a building of 1964 and up to 142 million – in a 1994 building”, - the prime-minister noted. At least 10% of the whole amount will have to be paid right away, and it will be possible to pay the rest in parts in 40 years.