Photo: REUTERS/Scanpix
Olafs Zvejnieks, Ieva Ēvalde /Latvijas Mediji
Fails to withstand critics’ hints of a prosperous, low-cost life under Aleksandr Lukashenko’s dictatorship
Statistics show that the number of Latvian tourists to Belarus is falling, but the constant stream of messages glorifying this totalitarian state on social networks continues. Among other things, praising the mind-blowing variety of products in the shops and, of course, the attractive prices.
Videos idealising Belarus are also widely shared by the Latvian audience. Often, these videos directly contrast the “great life in Belarus” with everyday life in Latvia, repeating the Kremlin’s propaganda about Latvia being a failed country.
Thus, Arnis shared on Facebook a video posted on Tik-Tok, which shows long shelves of various sausages in a blurry image, writing: “Now I know why the fence is needed.” Meanwhile, a commenter on the video, captioned “Latvia is bankrupt”, says in Russian: “…I cannot stay calm.
They used to exclaim that if we were in the European Union we would have 100 varieties of sausages, but I only see 100 varieties here in Belarus – we have never even been close to that…”
To begin with, in a country where the economy is dictated not by the laws of the market (e.g. supply in line with demand) but to a large extent by the decisions of an authoritarian head of state, it is certainly possible to see many different demonstrations that in no way reflect the state of the market and the standard of living as a whole.
The same free market laws that influence prices through competition and make long-term shortages almost impossible are distorted in Belarus, where Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime can interfere whenever and however it wants. In autumn 2022, when inflation was widespread in many countries, news agencies also reported on Belarus. On 6 October, Aleksandr Lukashenko ordered at a meeting of officials: “As of the sixth date (of October), all price increases are banned. Forbidden! Starting today. Not tomorrow, but today. So that prices do not skyrocket overnight.” Pul Pervogo, a Telegram channel close to Aleksandr Lukashenko’s press service, reported that those who did not comply with the price dictate would face harsh penalties “for violation – the responsibility of the Office of the Prosecutor General and the KGB – detention and criminal proceedings. Throughout responsibility.”
This may sound familiar to some – especially threats of fines. Exactly: governance in the spirit of the USSR’s most rotten traditions.
And yet – what could Latvians possibly find attractive in Belarus?
Cheap medicine
Latvijas Avīze managed to speak to two relatively recent visitors to Belarus – Andris from Riga, who visits the neighbouring country every year to visit relatives, and Ilmārs from Zemgale, who was in Belarus a few months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine – in May 2022. Andris, whose knowledge of Belarus seems to be more extensive due to his many visits, says that he believes that under the leadership of Aleksandr Lukashenko, the country has maintained a standard of living and social benefits that seems sympathetic to the poorest part of the population, who are also the majority of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s supporters. “Belarus does not allow the stratification of society and there are relatively few rich people. At the same time, pensions and child benefits in Belarus are relatively high compared to average salaries, and healthcare, medicine and education are partly free and much cheaper than in Latvia,” says Andris. “In my opinion, the relatively cheap healthcare and medicines are one of the most important reasons why Latvians visit Belarus – many people go there for dental treatment and other medical procedures, which are much cheaper than in Latvia.
I myself have had root canals and fillings done there about three times cheaper than in Latvia. This does not mean that the Belarusians themselves think these prices are low,” says Andris.
However, food prices and catering have changed significantly in the last 10 to 15 years. “Back in the days of the lats, you could feel like a rich man in Belarus – you could walk into a restaurant and buy a table full of food for about three or four lats. Now it is far from that, although catering in Belarus is still cheaper than in Latvia. Food prices in Belarus are also lower than in Latvia for local products, but anything imported from outside Russia will be much more expensive than in Latvia. I like Belarusian sausages,” says Andris with a smile. Both Andris and Ilmārs note the good quality of roads in Belarus, the clean and tidy environment, the extensive construction in Minsk and in smaller towns.
Meanwhile, the huge Chinese logistics and industrial centre “The Great Stone”, built last decade to become the backbone of Chinese exports to Europe, stands completely empty due to sanctions.
“It is a very strange feeling driving through a whole town that has actually been built around this complex and there is no one there. It really is spooky,” says Ilmārs.
It should be noted that the Belarusian internet resources available to Latvians, such as the food delivery shop “edostavka.by”, give a rough idea of food prices in the neighbouring country, just remember that when converted into euros, prices in Belarusian rubles now have to be divided by 3.53. On a random basis, we can find prices of various goods that are lower than in Latvia, and also higher, but these differences are definitely not such that it is worth driving at least three hours to Belarus from Riga, because the fuel costs will eat up these differences like it is nothing. Perhaps
living close to the Belarusian border, the price difference is more attractive, but you should bear in mind that restrictions on the import of various goods from Belarus came into force in March this year, and they also apply to private individuals.
The restrictions affect vegetables, fruit, nuts and cereal products, dog and cat food. Similarly, goods imported from Belarus are subject to all the restrictions imposed on goods from third countries – no more than one litre of alcohol and 40 cigarettes, no more than 10 litres of fuel, excluding the amount in the tank, and only medicines for personal use, upon presentation of a purchase receipt.
Photo: MAGO/SNA/Scanpix
Soviet relics in everyday life
At the same time, both correspondents of Latvijas Avīze also point out aspects of Belarusian life that differ sharply from Latvia’s and are more like Soviet relics. “Belarus still has a system in which every company has a kolkhoz (collective farm) or a farm assigned to it. You can work in a factory and be used to going back to your family every day, but one day the management will call you and make you go to work in a kolkhoz for a month. If you refuse – you will lose your job. Such remnants of Soviet reality can also be funny – for example, a sushi restaurant has fruit compote on the menu that fits like a turnip on a fish counter, but the city or other authorities have decreed that all catering establishments must offer fruit compote – and they offer it,” says Andris.
“Belarusians are very reluctant talking about politics and are even afraid to do so, especially with strangers,” notes Ilmārs.
A librarian, who happened to host a delegation from the National Library of Belarus before 2020, when Latvia had relatively friendly relations with Belarus, says that one of the guests told her – the library, which was supposedly funded by donations from the people, was in fact funded in such a way that everyone working there was asked for a donation and you could not refuse. However, it is not the way in which these “donations” were collected that is strange, because anyone who lived in Soviet times will also remember the concept of “voluntarily compulsory”, but it might seem very familiar to those who lived in Soviet times that, about half an hour later, the Belarusian guest privately asked very strongly not to tell anyone that she had expressed herself in a way that could be interpreted as showing disloyalty, and not to mention her name.
Andris also said that a relative of his, who had been a journalist for an opposition publication, had, after the closure of that publication, taken a job with a publication loyal to the government, where, among other things, she was involved in selling the newspaper.
“She goes to the factory and tells the director how many copies the factory has to buy. And try not to buy – you get in trouble with the city management, so they buy as many as needed.”
Disadvantages during the war
As for the neighbouring country’s economy as a whole, even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Belarusian economy was already in crisis – the country’s gross domestic product in 2024 in US dollar terms is about 10% lower than in 2014. This is because the Belarusian economy was struggling both in 2014-2016 and in 2020, while Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko is said to be rejecting long-overdue reforms in the name of preserving political stability, according to observers of the country.
Belarus’s gross domestic product per capita in euros in 2023 was EUR 7155, while in Latvia it was three times higher – EUR 21 444. Compared to 2019, Belarus’ GDP per capita has grown very slightly – by around EUR 850, while Latvia’s growth has been six times higher in those years – at EUR 5500. This difference in GDP per capita is also reflected in salaries –
at the beginning of 2024, the average pre-tax or gross salary in Belarus was EUR 615, which is almost two times less than the average salary in Latvia after all taxes have been paid (EUR 1180).
The first conclusion to draw from these figures is that goods and services that may seem relatively cheap to Latvians may not be cheap to Belarusians.
Ales Alekhnovich, head of the economic group in the office of Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, has noted for The Economist a number of events that have taken place in the Belarusian economy since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. First, in the two and a half years of the war, the value of the Belarusian ruble against the dollar has fallen from 2.6 rubles to the dollar to 3.3 rubles to the dollar. He notes, however, that the market rate at which Belarusians can buy dollars is closer to 3.5 rubles, so the Belarusian ruble has fallen by almost a third. This significantly reduces the Belarusian people’s means of subsistence, including the purchase of foreign products and buying local products with imported ingredients at home. These exchange rate changes are also reflected in significant price increases on the shelves of Belarusian shops.
In addition,
the sanctions have also led to a significant drop in production, with around 40 countries imposing restrictions on imports from Belarus and the European Union banning the supply of up to 70% of goods previously exported by Belarus.
According to Ales Alekhnovich, Belarus could lose as much as 40% of its exports as a result of the war. In any case, Ilmārs, a visitor to Belarus, also mentions that one of the people he met during his visit to the neighbouring country, a worker in a factory exporting at the time, had his salary halved from 700 rubles a month to 350 rubles because of the sanctions and export restrictions. The world has also been informed that large and nationally important companies such as the Belarusian Railways or the Novopolotsk oil refinery Naftan have been forced to take out loans to pay their employees’ salaries – a clear sign of the company’s poor financial state.
Becoming a local, not a tourist
Returning to the enthusiastic attitude of some Latvian tourists to what they see in Belarus, it might be noted that they make a typical thinking mistake of tourists – they see a product they need at a lower price in the shops and conclude that they could live much better there. Actually, there are two mistakes being made here, because the only way people could live better is if, by moving to the country in question, they were able to keep their previous income, which is far from guaranteed. Second,
you could live cheaper if you lived the way the locals do – eat what the locals eat and use the services that the locals use.
The only problem is that when people move to another country, they usually do not want to fundamentally change their living habits – they want the same food, household goods, size and quality of housing, services and general lifestyle – and this lifestyle does not cost nearly as much as the daily life of the locals. So it is one thing to go into a shop and buy this or that at a lower price, but it is quite another to conclude that you could live much better in a particular place. That is, such conclusions should be drawn more carefully and only after a more serious research. This applies to Belarus as well as to any other country in the world – it is no coincidence that all advice books on moving to another country categorically advise against making such a choice after a tourist trip but recommend moving and living in the country you want for a few months, as the perception of reality is very different in both cases.
Meanwhile, the public image of Belarus – its well-maintained roads, cleanliness and public order, wide range of goods in the shops – in many ways masks the preserved Soviet reality so well that many people’s itching tongues call it “Potemkin village”.
