Anton Trafimovich • 10 Reasons to Visit Belarus
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SEE SOCIALISM IN ACTION
Most businesses in Belarus are still stateowned. Officially, healthcare is free (mostly)
as well as education (though it’s getting more
commercialized every year.) The government has
a paternal policy and “cares” about its citizens.
That’s how we got super low rates on housing
loans before the crisis of 2009 when many people
used state loans to buy several apartments.
Belarus also has the cheapest utilities in the
whole region. Winter bills will never get higher
than €20-30 for a 2-3 bedroom apartment each
month. The flip side of all that is that the quality
of products and services suffers. People have
the chance to buy a “cheap” apartment, but the
block-house as well as the entrance would look
really ugly. Moreover, you probably won’t have
any space for parking and for a playground by
your house. Same thing with facilities: they’re
cheap, but don’t expect good service. People
can’t even regulate the temperature in their
apartments - everyone has the same heating
according to the state standard.
March 2015
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