Will nuclear station help resolve unemployment problem?

The administration in charge of the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Belarus has not approached the local employment service in order to offer job vacancies. In fact, it is possible only in Minsk to find a job with the salary more than Br1 million ($450) through the state-run employment agencies. According to official estimates, one in five job vacancies offered by the employment agency in Minsk can bring a pay of more than Br1 million, Cheslau Rouba, chairman of the employment department at the Minsk City Hall says that this money is offered mainly to construction workers.

The European Radio for Belarus has learned that wages of more than Br1 million could be found through the state-run employment agencies in Minsk only.

It is a common knowledge that the crisis has hit our country in a wierd way. Some months ago, the European Radio for Belarus reported that official unemployment statistics were on decline. Even now, it is still going down to zero level. In Kalinkavich only, unemploynment rate hs dropped by five times in the past five years. Perhaps, that's the reason behind the lack of job vacancies for Br1 million?.

Unemployment is also declining in the Astravets region, the site of the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant. Only 182 are listed as jobless in this region. If they are so few, why are the authorities claiming that the nuclear station will resolve the issue of unemployment in the area? Moreover, Svaitlana Rodz from the employment department at the Astravets district administration, says that the nuclear power plant construction officials have not offered their job vacancies.

Photo: Vecherniy Minsk