STATEMENT BY AUCPB OF BELARUS

STATEMENT BY THE BUREAU OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE AUCPB IN BELARUS AND THE KALININGRAD REGION IN CONNECTION WITH THE CURRENCY CRISIS IN BELARUS AND THE BELARUSIAN RUBLE DEVALUATION
02.07.2011 06:02

Since the beginning of April 2011 in the Belarusian currency exchange offices, surprisingly for many, long queues were formed, as in places where the population exchanged Belarusian rubles for foreign currency, there are no more U.S. dollars and euros. Media reports talked about a currency crisis in Belarus, and people start buying goods in bulk at shops, with an unfounded fear of rising prices for them. High demand has reached such proportions that from the shelves are disappearing, not only household appliances: refrigerators, gas cookers, vacuum cleaners, etc., but also food products: vegetable oil, fish, sugar and even salt, but salt is produced in Belarus in enough quantities not only for internal purposes but also for export.

The delighted paid by the West opposition, having lost at the last presidential election by a crushing defeat, has started via the Internet spreading all kinds of panicky rumors in order to enhance speculative sentiments among the population and the maximum destabilization of the country for carrying out the orders their masters - the handong over of Belarus to Western capital. And, of course, this has contributed to the further deterioration in the foreign exchange market in Belarus. A very ugly role in this is being carried on by the media of Russia, who excitedly showed great delight in the temporarily empty shelves in some Belarusian stores, and creating such an apocalyptic picture, not giving full information about what is happening, has decieved Russian viewers.

The hard pegging of the bourgeois Belarusian economy to foreign currency was not long in coming: the effects of the currency crisis turned out to be very difficult for Belarus. What has started was unseen since the early 90's, when Belarus was led by the traitor of the Soviet people pro-Western Shushkevich, with rising prices for food and industrial goods, for services rendered to population, for of fuel for vehicles to travel on the railways, etc. Since the beginning of 2011, inflation in Belarus has crossed the barrier of 25%, and many goods for January - May rose by 1.5 - 2 times. The average salary dropped from $ 500 to $ 300 a month.

In the current crisis, especially working people, retirees, have become poorer and no amount of compensatory measures by the government will cover the losses. Also on the backs of the impoverishment of workers, peasants and intellectuals, a small group of nouveau riche have gained, having at Minsk and other Belarusian cities huge houses and palaces.

Under these conditions, the National Bank of Belarus from May 24, 2011, after much hesitation officially set a new official rate of Belarusian ruble against the U.S. dollar - 4930 rubles per 1 U.S. dollar instead of the previous year - 3070 Br per 1 U.S. dollar. On the same date was set a new course of the Belarusian ruble against the euro and British pound. Thus, the actual devaluation of the Belarusian ruble had already occurred spontaneously by the moment it had been confirmed officially. But the decision of the National Bank had no effect: the currency at exchange offices and has not appeared, currency speculators are still making money, making profits with earlier bought up currency at the rate of 2 times the official. According to some sources, in the hands of the population currently there is about $ 5 billion.

However, some state officials argue that the devaluation of the Belarusian ruble will reduce the negative balance in foreign trade of Belarus, and this method, they say, is often used in other countries. But we, Bolsheviks, are categorically against such methods of equalization payments, as they are actually carried out by lowering the standard of living pf working people.

While many Western countries are still struggling with the consequences of the global economic crisis that hit almost all of their economies in 2008 – 2009, the media of these countries, as well as some Russian media have began to report on the economic crisis in Belarus. However, in these media you can find virtually no true information about the nature of economic crises and their causes.

Marxist-Leninist science deals with economic crises as the phase of the capitalist cycle, characterized by the rapid explosion of all the contradictions of the capitalist economy. It manifests itself in the absolute decline in production, underload of production capacity, growing unemployment, violations of the monetary and monetary and financial spheres, etc. The main reason is the basic contradiction of capitalism: the contradiction between social production and private form of appropriation of the results.

The first crisis in the history of capitalism erupted in 1825. At the pre-monopoly stage of capitalism, economic crises, repeated every 8 - 12 years, and at the stage of imperialism, especially after the Second World War, after every 5 - 6 years. The most severe was the world economic crisis of the 1929 - 1933 period.

In addition, the Marxist science speaks about the general crisis of imperialism, the First World War (1914 - 1918) and the Great October Socialist Revolution that launched it. It continues at the present time, unabated, and it becomes stronger. Particularly strengthened was the general crisis of imperialism in the mid 80s of last century, and only the violent destruction of the USSR and the socialist camp has saved the imperialist system from total collapse.

With regard to Belarus, it relatively successfully withstood the crisis of 2008 - 2009, although it came out with a balance of payments deficit. The country currently has some elements of the crisis, but a full-scale economic crisis NOT yet. In January - April of this year, industrial production growth in Belarus reached 12.9%, and the country for this indicator is the leader of the CIS. Unemployment, according to official data, meanwhile remain at the same low level, but we, Bolsheviks, note the presence of hidden unemployment in Belarus, where employees of certain enterprises are located in the workplace, but companies are not overburdened by work or enterprises have introduced a shorter working week.

The main causes of difficulties experienced at present in Belarus, is the destruction 20 years ago of the Soviet Union and the introduction into the Republic of capitalist market relations. All other causes are the results from the indicated main reasons.

After the counter-revolutionary coup in Belarus, like other former Soviet republics, it entered the capitalist path of development, and while at the head is President Alexander Lukashenko, the speed of capitalization of the Belarus economy has been lower than in other republics, so we, Bolsheviks, have no doubt about the bourgeois character of all reforms. After the last presidential election, these reforms have been started with acceleration. Almost immediately after the election on 31.12.2010 of President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko signed directive № 4 "On the development of entrepreneurship and encouraging business activity in Belarus." For example, some of the requirements of this Directive are:

"1.1 ... the transition to market pricing mechanisms ...;

eliminate government intervention in the pricing process of business entities;

eliminate the limitation of allowances in wholesale and retail trade and the mandatory drafting of economic feasibility level of used prices (tariffs) for goods (work, services) ...

2. Take the most serious measures to protect and promote private ownership."

In the development of directives, on February 25, 2011 Decree № 72 is issued "On some issues of regulation of prices (tariffs) in the Republic of Belarus", which read: "2.2 is not an offense:

exceeding by individual entrepreneur or legal entity the established limited changes in wholesale prices index (goods) for goods (work, services) for their implementation without registration of prices (tariffs) in the prescribed manner, ...

sale of goods (work, services) by an individual entrepreneur or legal entity in the absence of economic calculation ... except regulated in accordance with this decree. "

Presidential Decree № 181 was then published from May 10, 2011 "On some measures to improve state regulation of wages." The essence of this Decree is set out in the beginning: "In order to empower employers to establish flexible payment terms of employees, taking into account the possible impact of the contribution of each employee and financial resources of entrepreneurs, I decree:

1. Grant the right to commercial organizations and individual entrepreneurs to make decisions on the use of the Single tariff for workers of Belarus in determining the conditions of payment of workers." Thus, the Single tariff for workers of Belarus has become optional for entrepreneurs.

And, finally, its own contribution to the creation of chaos in the foreign exchange market in the Republic was made by thte National Bank since May 11, 2011 with the free floating of exchange rates for transactions in the population, corridor fluctuations have expanded in the ruble against the currency basket to 12%. Of course, all this was a signal for panic. And when the situation became unmanageable, out came the above-mentioned decision of the National Bank of 24 May 2011.

As you may know, the classic example of the bourgeois economists on overcoming crisis was US president Roosevelt during the "Great Depression" of 1929 - 1933. He for the first time applied the methods of firm state regulation of the American capitalist economy, and from 1934, America gradually came out of severe economic crisis. But here we note that by 1937, America was again creeping into the next crisis, and only the approach of the Second World War, which allowed American capitalists to open multibillion-dollar military contracts at the expense of taxpayers, saved it from the next even more devastating crisis. This example very eloquently confirms the Marxist thesis of the inevitability of crises and wars of capitalism. By the way, regarding the latest world economic crisis, many bourgeois economists are already predicting the approach of its second wave, more destructive than the wave of 2008 - 2009.

As you can see, the actions of the administration of the Belarusian president in the first half of 2011, on the contrary have been directed towards a departure from past policies of government regulation and towards the transition to a policy of granting complete freedom of entrepreneurship and business - and straight away you can see the Belarusian economy is faced with crises. In this case, what is confirmed by the Leninist thesis is that private ownership every minute and every second generates new private ownership. Small Belarusian private capital having occupied at the start, has gained strength under President Alexander Lukashenko, and is now demanding an increase in its share of the Belarusian "pie". And the bourgeois president, from the first days of speaking for the presence in the Belarusian economy of private property, must now go to meet them.

However, when "Belarusian traders for the master," lost conscience, and the rise in prices took a threatening nature, the president intervened - and some prices were reduced. The state-run media for a few days repeated the directives of the president to organizations releasing the main fuels for cars, not to exceed the bar prices for the main types of fuel above 4500 Bel. rubles per liter. But then the president added a caveat: "I am not an advocate of lower prices ...", and expressed concern over the export of Belarusian goods cheaper into neighboring countries. His main line in pricing is that he believes that growth of prices is normal, and he is only an enemy of sharp price increases. Thus, he wants our citizens to gradually get accustomed to the fact that capitalism, despite its flaws - it's ok.

In an attempt to rectify the situation on the currency market, it was decided to expand the scope of the monetary settlements in the territory of the Republic in foreign currency. However, the involvement of foreign currency in the domestic economy of any country, as we know, is always accompanied by costs associated with the loss of a certain part of independence.

In this regard, it should be noted that the work of the State Bank of the USSR was strikingly different from the current banks of the capitalist states, formed from the former Soviet republics. In the USSR, the quotation of the Soviet ruble was not made with the help of foreign currencies, its assessment was carried out only on the established gold content. So no matter how varied the dollar, marks, pounds, francs, etc., to the Soviet ruble this had no effect. Prices in the USSR were so stable that they were stamped on metal objects, printed on product labels, etc. The Soviet ruble clearly fulfilled all the functions of money, including the accumulation function, for example, put in the bank 100 rubles and in 10 years it did not change its value. Soviet workers, in contrast to the present bourgeois conditions of citizens had confidence in their future.

All the above points at the internal crisis in the monetary and and financial spheres of modern Belarus. However, the most important component of the causes of destabilization in these areas, is an external factor.

In Belarus there is practically no necessary for the economy natural resources, except for potassium salts (third place in the world), and no necessary energy for the economy of the Republic. Therefore, since Soviet times, Belarus has been the "assembly shop" of the Soviet Union. The republic still produces trucks, tractors, agricultural and household appliances, has an advanced instrument-making industry, chemical industry and oil refining. Much of the production still goes to Russia. From Russia, Belarus receives oil and gas, but the energy is at the mercy of the Russian oligarchic structures. It was they who carried out the pricing policies on gifts of Russian mineral resources shipped to many countries.

With regard to Belarus, virtually the only ally of Russia today, Russian oligarchic companies have recently carried out an openly predatory imperialist policy, pushing up the price of oil, gas and electricity. So much so, that the gas in Germany comes from Russia at a lower price than in the allied Belarus. As a result, the cost of energy at the Belarusian enterprises do not cover the revenues derived from sales of Belarusian products of these enterprises in Russia. There is a growing deficit in trade of Belarus with Russia, and for the purchase of energy resources, Belarus is forced to spend its foreign exchange reserves, which was the occasion to talk about the fact that Belarus is living beyond its means.

The practice of periodic restrictions, and even interruptions of energy supplies to Belarus from Russia has become a regular. Most recently, on 9 June 2011, the Russian company "Inter RAO EES" reduced supply of electricity to "Belenergo" by 2.5 times, then it was restored.

There is a open energy blackmail against Belarus by the Russian oligarchy. The objective is clear and obvious - buy on the cheap whilst Belarusian enterprises are still operating successfully, and above all from modern oil refineries and factories such as "BELAZ" (one of the three world leaders in heavy dump trucks).

Belarus is under pressure both from the West and the East. Recently initiated by the Obama, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Belarus. A very tough stance towards Belarus is taken by Russia's Minister Kudrin, who staged the privatization of Belarusian companies as a condition for providing loans to Belarus,.

The position of the Belarusian president repeatedly voiced is this: he is not against the sell off of enterprises, but only for big money. Unfortunately, this process has begun, and the last official message is: "JSC "Belaruskaly" has sold to Austrian and British companies its shares of CJSC "International Potash Company" for more than 282.2 million Russian rubles."

Summarizing the above, the Bureau of the Central Committee of the AUCPB of Belarus and Kaliningrad states: 20 years after the counter-revolutionary coup, did not bring happiness to Belarusian working people, the policy of the bourgeois reforms has not justified itself and is collapsing. Continuation of reforms to increase private sector share in the Belarusian economy is fraught with yet another increase in exploitation of Belarusian workers, peasants and intellectuals.

Among the first measures to be implemented now, we call on the Belarusian workers actively oppose the sale of property of the Republic under any pretext.

We call upon the working people of Belarus to be vigilant, because now there is a risk of another attempt by the flunky pro-Western opposition to come to power in the wake of the prevailing difficulties, and the West have plenty of money to help them with this. However, workers should know that changing one bourgeois leadership of the republic to another while maintaining the bourgeois system will not solve the problem of crises. Proof of this are examples from recent history: the overthrow by the masses of Presidents of Egypt and Tunisia did not lead to significant changes: the rich remained with their capital, and the poor are still with nothing. As always, the Zionist-imperialists of the USA won, as always their policy of "divide and conquer" bring them dividends. In the case of coming to power of the Belarusian collaborators, workers of Belarus will be exposed to double exploitation: on part of the Belarusian capitalists, and by their Western masters. Therefore it is necessary to expose the opposition bought up by the West as enemies of the Belarusian people, the spiritual heirs of Vlasov, Bandera and the few Belarusian nationalists in the period of the last war.

We, Belarusian Bolsheviks, support the actions of Leftist, bourgeois-patriotic, Slavic movements and organizations in the Soviet Union against imperialist pressure on Belarus and its people, against the interference in the internal affairs of the Belarus Republic. We advocate the strengthening of the Russia-Belarus Union, even on a bourgeois basis, because this allows our workers to unite to fight against a common enemy - capitalism.

However, we Bolsheviks declare that the complete deliverance of our country from crisis is possible only in a planned socialist economy and truly friendly relations with former Soviet republics, which existed up to its violent destruction by traitors to the united Soviet Motherland. The laws of social development, the laws of dialectics show: the movement of society back into the past is impossible, if it is a reverse movement, then it is usually temporary.

Therefore, we, Bolsheviks, declare that the victory of capitalism that we have, is a temporary phenomenon, and the period of its reign, the unjust exploitation of the working masses by a bunch of rich people depends on us. We urge the Belarusian workers together with workers from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics to strengthen the struggle for the restoration of Soviet power as a dictatorship of the proletariat, socialism, and our Great Motherland – the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. And there is no other way.

CC AUCPB Belarus
Minsk, June 25, 2011



----------------------------------------------------------