English

Private farms in Belarus going it alone

Belarusian farm owners have gotten used to relying only on themselves in their work, farmer Nina Hlavatskaya said in an interview with BelaPAN on the sidelines of a conference marking 20 years since the establishment of the first private farm in Belarus.

"We work. What kind of support can we need - one must just work and that's it," she said.

The woman's family, which owns a garden with 7,000 apple trees, gathered a harvest of 12 tons last year. They also grow vegetables on a three-hectare land plot.

The family have friendly relations with their neighbors and have no disputes with the local authorities.

Kanstantsin Yarmolenka, chairman of the Belarusian Association of Farmers, described the organization's purpose as lobbying the interests of private farms.

"In particular, this is involvement in the adoption of regulations regarding the development of private farms, efforts to defend the interests of farm owners on the local level, sometimes in courts, making statements through media," he said.

"Under the difficult economic conditions it's hard for me to say that all farm owners manage to make both ends meet. Six thousand private farms have been established since the launch of the land reform, but 4,000 of them have ceased to exist - most just could not survive relying only on their own funds. It is most likely that they have never enjoyed state support and will not do so. An average farmer usually says in such situations, 'I only want no one to interfere with my work, want to have fewer audits and more human sympathy," Mr. Yarmolenka said.