Maternal capital available in Belarus only from March

 The presidential decree on maternity capital came into force on January 1, but is still not in action. According to the document, the families, which in 2015 had a third and subsequent child are entitled to receive maternity capital in the amount of 10 thousand dollars on deposit. Documents for such assistance should be provided to local governments.

However, as was noted to the Euroradio in the Minsk city executive committee, the decree is there, but it is not working because there are no additional documents:

"Now we are preparing a draft decree, which will contain questions relating to  allocation, distribution and the like. There is only a presidential decree, and in the three-month period additional documents should be developed. The resolution of the Council of Ministers will be approximately passed in March."

At the Minsk City Executive Committee, we were told that mothers with many children turn for help but get the same answer - the decree is still not working.

Euroradio contacted the mother of many children, Yulia Sakharava from Vitsebsk. The woman recently gave birth to a child weighing 6 kg and 190 grams. We asked her what she thought about the capital.

"I did not look for information on the maternity capital. Eventually, of course, we will arrange it, but it is not useful. It does not help large families," says Yulia.

The thing is, large families can only make use of the 10 thousand dollars after the third child turns 18 years of age. An early use of the money will be available only when it is needed to pay for medical treatment.

According to the Minister of Labour, Maryiana Shchotkina, 1.8 trillion rubles were budgeted to improve the next year's living conditions. This money will be enough for 16,600 "third children".

Decree on maternity capital will be in action until 31 December 2019.