Ever More Belarusian Officials Quitting Because of Politicization and Fears of Instability, New Study Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, December 13 – While the exact number of officials who have been quitting state service in Belarus is unknown, there is evidence that it has been increasing over the last several years, the result of excessive politicization, grievances about injustice, and fears of instability ahead, Natalya Ryabova says.

            The director of the SYMPA/BIPART agency, which has just completed a study of those who have been leaving, says that salaries are important but not the only thing that matters despite what the Lukashenka government seems to believe (https://belsat.eu/ru/news/eksperty-rasskazali-pochemu-belorusy-uhodyat-s-gosudarstvennoj-sluzhby/).

            Officials want their jobs to be well-defined rather than constantly redirected to follow the whims of the president, they want to be treated justly on the basis of their performances rather than promotion dependent on the attitudes of their bosses, and, because they went into state service in search of stability, they want stability in their work.

            When those conditions are violated as they increasingly are in Belarus, Ryabova says her study shows, officials quit and seek work in the private sector.