A flag on House of Government survives for no longer than a month

A photo of the House of Government with a state flag which is torn into strapes appeared in the Internet. However, Euroradio's correspondent spotted an untouched flag above the building the next day. Supply manager of the Parliament and the Council of Ministers Philip Vysotski says that usually a flag survives for about a month.

Photo: ex-press.by

"In the best case it survives for three, maybe four weeks. If this is a good flag. When the weather is like now, especially in Autumn, the wind may tear the flag in a day. There may be unpredictable situations".

The height of the House of Government together with the ... makes more than 40 meters. The wind may tear everything at such a height. So we ask whether these flags are made of special fabric. 

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"All of them are standard and do not differ from one another. The one on the city executive office is the same that we have, as well as the President's residence, or other buildings where there is an opportunity to hoist a flag. There are certain standards, even the law "On State Symbols". Everything is written there".

It turns out that the flags which reign above the President's residence or the House of Government may be bought in ordinary shops for the price of 133 thousand roubles, and the flag's size is 1,5x3 meters.

They say in the Central Bookshop of Minsk that people buy many flags, and the prices have remained unchanged for more than a year. The flags are sold the best in view of upcoming football games.

They tell in the company "Euroflag" (Minsk) that the state liberalized prices for flags but people do buy less of them in crisis.

"We do not produce less flags than before. People buy flags not as often as they used to. We have fixed prices for the state symbols once, but then the state liberalized the prices. The prices for the state flags are lower than for other flags in order people would buy them more".

A printed flag made of atlas, which is used at the festive official ceremonies, costs about a million and a half roubles. Therefore, cheaper variants of lower quality are hoisted on the roofs usually.

"If we need to hoist a flag outside, we usually buy cheaper ones. If we need to use flags inside, or at different ceremonies, we buy these expensive ones. Street flags are made of undercloth or jersey. Indoor flags are made of atlas".

"Euroflag" also produces small flags for Mercedez cars like the one the President has. In theory, everyone may order a similar flag for his own car for just 105 thousand roubles.