US embassy cable - 05MINSK1075

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 001075 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PLS PASS TO DEPT OF AGRICULTURE 
 
MOSCOW FOR FAS 
 
E.O. 12958: 09/07/15 
TAGS: EAGR, PGOV, ECON, BO 
SUBJECT: "Privatization Not For Slavs" 
 
 
Classified by Charge Constance Phlipot for Reasons 1.4 
(B,D) 
 
Refs: A) Minsk 923, B) 04 MINSK 1280 
 
1. (C) Summary:  On August 19, Lukashenko opined that 
Slavs are not mentally ready for privatization and, 
therefore, private farms have no future in Belarus. 
According to Lukashenko, the state collective is the 
best option and must be preserved.  The president's 
statements drew sharp criticism from independent farmers 
and specialists who blamed the GOB's agriculture policy 
for the slow development of private agricultural 
enterprises.  Poloff visited two private farmers on 
August 20 who explained that their biggest problems were 
government interference and employee laziness; not the 
farmers' inability to understand privatization. 
However, despite the obstacles, these private farmers 
continue to out-perform neighboring state-controlled 
collectives.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) During a tour of the "Battle for the Harvest" 
campaign in the Grodno region on August 19 (Ref A), 
President Lukashenko criticized private land ownership 
and privatized farms, claiming it had no future in 
Belarus.  Lukashenko opined that the Soviet collective 
farm system better suited the mentality of Slavic people 
because Slavs were "psychologically" not ready for 
privatization.  Unlike Russia and Ukraine, Belarus did 
not "rush to divide and sell" the collective farms, thus 
saving the country. 
 
3. (U) Agro-economist and academic at the Belarusian 
National Academy of Sciences Ivan Nikitchenko dismissed 
Lukashenko's statements, claiming Belarusians were 
psychologically competent and more than ready to develop 
private farming.  Referring to a survey conducted in the 
early 1990s, Nikitchenko noted how thousands of 
Belarusians wanted to become private farmers.  According 
to Nikitchenko, it is the GOB's bad agriculture policy 
and not the Slavic mentality that hinders the 
development of private farms. 
 
4. (SBU) On August 20, Poloff visited two privatized 
farms.  Vladimir Chapelle, an agronomist with a degree 
from Grodno Agriculture University, has owned his 2,500- 
hectare farm for only four years, but lived and worked 
on the farm all his life when it was a state collective. 
Normally, a Belarusian farm this size employs at least 
100 people, but Chapelle is managing with 40.  When the 
GOB allows people to acquire farms, it usually 
"suggests" to the new owners to retain the farm's 
original workforce. Much to the authorities' 
disapproval, Chapelle has been hiring and firing as he 
chooses.  However, the threat of losing a well-paying 
job (USD 150 per month) has improved Chapelle's 
workforce efficiency, minimized alcohol abuse, and 
eradicated theft, which continue to be large problems 
for both state and private farms. 
 
5. (SBU) Chapelle took Poloff to watch his harvest 
campaign, which had been delayed due to inclement 
weather.  The previous week's windstorm had lowered 
Chapelle's barley yield by 200 kg per hectare and his 
rye fields were still too wet to cut.  However, he is 
still out-performing the region's state farms in 
productivity and his profitability is 25 percent, which 
is better than all the regional state farms combined. 
 
6. (SBU) Poloff then visited a newly privatized farm 100 
km north of Minsk, owned by Anatoly Artihovsky, a 
wealthy Minsk businessman and the owner of the country's 
largest bottling company.  Artihovsky, who has no 
agricultural experience openly told Poloff that the 
government forced him to purchase the farm or risk 
losing his private business.   He acquired ownership of 
the farm in 2004.  Artihovsky explained that the GOB 
carefully scrutinizes his bookkeeping to ensure the 
government receives USD 7 million a year from him in 
taxes.  President Lukashenko's orders to plant and 
harvest upon request, regardless of the weather, have 
mentally strained him and his farm managers.  While 
Poloff and Artihovsky were watching a field being 
harvested, a member of the regional committee arrived to 
make sure Artihovsky and his employees were not standing 
idle. 
 
MINSK 00001075  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
7. (C) Artihovsky has invested USD 1 million into the 
farm's infrastructure and workforce.  However, much like 
other Minsk businessmen's farms (Ref B), his farm 
buildings are still crumbling, his combines and tractors 
are antiques, employee wages are low and infrequent, and 
his employees spend most of their time smoking and 
drinking.  Artihovsky said that his biggest problem was 
that his 100 plus employees, spoiled by the Soviet 
system of labor, have forgotten how to work.  That said, 
Artihovsky noted that although his farm's profitability 
is negative 17 percent, it is still much more profitable 
than the surrounding state farms. 
 
8. (C) Comment: President Lukashenko's disdain for 
private entrepreneurship is unambiguous.  The 
President's recent statements that Slavs are not ready 
for private farms also reflect his low expectations of 
his own people.  The owners of the private farms do have 
the mentality to make agriculture a profitable business, 
but the government is hindering this sector's 
development.  Chapelle, a trained specialist who knows 
more about farming than the members of the control 
committee, can get by with ignoring their 
recommendations, but talented businessmen like 
Artihovsky, who have no agricultural experience, must 
rely on the government's "suggestions," whether bad or 
good.  It is not the Slavs, but the country's leadership 
that is psychologically unprepared for farm 
privatization. 
 
PHLIPOT