At the meeting of the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee: On income and expenses
"It's better to travel poorly than to walk well," says the people. However, this is only one side of the problem – from the passenger's perspective, for whom comfort and transport accessibility are important. There is another side – from the carrier's perspective, who is forced to think about the profitability of the services provided. How to maintain the established balance of interests of all participants in passenger transportation with the least losses against the backdrop of negative economic trends was discussed this week by participants of an operational meeting chaired by the chairman of the regional executive committee.
According to Vasily Dyatlov, General Director of Vitebskoblavtotrans OJSC, despite the fact that their enterprise is the largest road carrier in the region, positive performance indicators are achieved solely thanks to freight transportation. All passenger transport operating on urban and suburban routes is unprofitable. The unprofitability of specialized bus depots providing this socially significant type of service (there are three of them in the region: Vitebsk, Orsha, Polotsk) is compensated by subsidies from the regional and city budgets. In 2014, they amounted to 27 percent.
According to specialists, there is nothing terrible in the very fact of subsidizing public passenger transport; it is unprofitable all over the world. Our problem is that in the current economic situation, transport companies cannot count on budget funds to update the aging vehicle fleet. And if in 2014 Vitebskoblavtotrans was allocated money from the regional budget for the purchase of 51 buses, then this year the situation in this direction is not visible. Today, about half of the available buses are worn out. For now, the region's route network is fully covered, but what will happen next?
In Minsk, the financial problems of passenger transportation are being addressed somewhat differently. Travel on urban public transport in the capital costs a thousand rubles more than in Vitebsk, and passenger transportation is subsidized at a level of 70 percent. As they say, feel the difference! Someone might object: their city is large, routes are longer, expenses are higher. But there is also a balancing factor: due to the significant number of visitors, bus occupancy in Minsk is high throughout the day, while in the periphery – only during peak hours...
As for passenger transportation services in rural areas, there is a known specificity in the Vitebsk region: a large number of villages compared to other regions of the country increases the load on the bus fleet by almost 3 times. Our region has the largest route network in the republic – 31 thousand km.
There are two proven ways to close the financial gaps of transport companies – to increase subsidies or to raise fares for passengers. As practice has shown, their effectiveness is temporary.
Perhaps private carriers will help solve the problem? But they will not work at a loss. Out of the 500 private route taxis available in the region, 200 are registered in Vitebsk, 70 each in Polotsk and Novopolotsk, and the rest in Orsha. That is, where there are more clients, and therefore, it is more profitable to work.
By the way, Minsk has quite thoughtfully proceeded with the introduction of a unified electronic travel pass, which will make it impossible for private carriers to conceal income and salary levels. It is in the interest of the state to extend this system to the entire country. If the proposal from the Vitebsk region is heard at the national level, it will become a matter of the near future. And until this happens, it will be necessary to seriously consider revising the level of subsidies for passenger road transport.
Reporting on the preliminary results of the region's national economy complex for the first quarter of the current year, First Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee Gennady Grebnev noted a still small (just over 2%), but still an increase in production volumes compared to January. Experts note some revival in the Russian market, which Belarusian industry, primarily light industry, immediately felt.
However, on the whole, the economic situation in the external market is not improving. This leads to price increases, non-payments, and a reduction in employment within the country. Against this backdrop, wage arrears are accumulating, the lion's share of which falls on agro-industrial complex enterprises.
As the appeals of citizens to the "direct telephone lines" of the Regional Executive Committee show, the heads of several Agricultural Production Cooperatives mislead villagers by informing them about alleged non-payments by processing enterprises for the products delivered. The reality is that all the revenue of these agricultural enterprises goes to repay the loans they previously received. Some farms have managed to get into a "debt trap" with banks, having chosen financial resources for five, seven, or even ten years in advance. Now they have to pay for unreasonable management: accounts are frozen, and any income is automatically directed to debt repayment.
Therefore, the instruction given by the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee is quite understandable and logical: the payment of salaries to directors and chief specialists of Agricultural Production Cooperatives should be carried out last, after it has been provided to ordinary workers. Nikolai Nikolaevich believes that people should not suffer financially due to the mistakes of individual managers.
Based on this position, at the suggestion of the head of the region, a decision has been made to provide financial support from the regional budget to OJSC
”Kuptsovъ“ (Glubokoye district) to help it pay off wage arrears. The enterprise is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, and there is no chance that it will be able to settle with its employees on its own.Similarly, the situation with payments to employees of 4 agricultural enterprises in the Sennensky district is being resolved with the support of the district budget.
Another issue on the agenda of the operational meeting was the reconstruction of the memorial complex "Proryv" in the Ushachsky district. It was opened in May 1974 in memory of the heroic breakthrough from encirclement in May 1944 of 16 partisan brigades of the Polotsk-Lepel zone. Along with them, more than 15,000 civilians were freed from the blockade ring. The heroism of 17,195 people's avengers proved stronger than the might of fascist punitive units numbering over 60,000 people.
Over 40 years, the monumental concrete structure began to deteriorate. Reconstruction requires considerable funds, so it was decided to carry it out with maximum preservation of existing elements under the guidance of one of the creators of the memorial – the famous architect Yuri Gradov.
The Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee particularly emphasized the need for modern approaches to landscaping the complex's territory. It will be necessary to install lighting, change the location of memorial plaques, expand the parking lot, improve the surrounding area, and provide a recreation area for those who come to honor the partisan feat.
Lyudmila Myshlyonok,Chief Specialist of the Main Department
of Ideological Work, Culture
and Youth Affairs of the Regional Executive Committee