Ryhor Kastusyou: Belarusian-Russian border should be closed if we want visa-free entry to Europe
Ryhor Kastusyou confessed why he did not have a political ideal, said what the President’s wife was supposed to do, shared his personal lyric poetry with us and answered the questions that bothered Minskers most in the new ERB’s video project “Candidate to Studio!”.
– What is your ideal of a political leader?
– I have never created any ideal for me - that is why I do not have any political ideal.
– What is your favourite book?
– Same here - there is no book I’d keep reading and re-reading. I read everything I come across.
– What is your favourite song? Something you could start murmuring when you sit down to meditate a bit...
– My favourite song is “Mighty God”. I like when it is performed by a good ensemble, a mighty one. For example, the way it was performed at the “Mighty God” festival in Mahilyou.
– Do you think the presidential salary should be bigger than a teacher’s salary?
– It should not be much bigger. To be precise, it should not exceed it by many times. Naturally, the President should have an adequate salary. However, teachers should also have adequate salaries. Presidents, engineers, doctors and street cleaners are educated by teachers.
– What is your attitude to sexual minorities?
– I take pity on them. I do not think that some things should be put “in the window”. I call it a show.
– How much money do you have on you?
– I have 50 thousand rubles and about a hundred dollars at the moment.
– How do you call your wife at home?
– I call her Larysa or Laryska.
– Can you name the most important family tradition?
– There is a tradition that existed in my family what I was a kid and lived with my parents: we always had dinner together every evening. The tradition was preserved in my family when I got married and when my children were born. Unfortunately, the children have already left home and we live together with my wife. However, we also sit quietly together from time to time. But the whole family gathers together on feast-days.
– What holiday would you like remove or add?
– I would surely add March 25. That is for sure! The day should be made a state holiday. The day of October Revolution is not a real holiday to me... We could leave it for the people who would like to celebrate it. But it is not a state holiday.
– Do you know how much a bottle of vodka is?
– About 20 thousands.
– How much should it be?
– It should cost as much as it does in European countries. But the price should be reasonable at the same time. The price should correspond to the average wage in our country. But vodka should not be cheap. However, speculation may start if it is too expensive.
– Do you make domestic wine or home-brew?
– I tried to make juice and fruit liquor in the past. My mother-in-law supplies me with it now.
– Does she make fruit liquor or home-brew?
–Well… both!
–How many close friends do you have and are they taking part in your election campaign?
– I should say that I do not have many friends. I made them in the places I used to live. I meet them from time to time and we are on friendly terms. My colleagues... Of course, not all of them are taking part in the election campaign – not everyone can do it. Those who can are helping me now.
– What polyclinic do you go to when you fall ill?
– I always try to go to Shklou polyclinic.
– Have you ever taken on a credit and what for?
– I haven’t. My principle is I should never tick. Only if there is no other way out. Furthermore, I have never taken on a state credit.
– Don’t you trust the state?
– I don’t!
– Tell us a joke, please.
– The joke is about potatoes. Chukchi men planted potatoes in the tundra. When they came to check whether the potatoes had sprouted in autumn it turned out they hadn’t. The Chukchi men were asked: “Where are the potatoes?” And they replied: “Chukchi men were hungry”. They dug out the potatoes soon after had planted them and they ate them. So, what’s the moral? To get a crop, you have to plant potatoes, cultivate them, spud them, take care of them and protect your plants from Colorado beetles. You have to work to get a good result.
PERSONALITY
– Why did you decide that you were able to become President?
– When I worked for the housing and communal services in 2001 my colleges used to say: “Why don’t you run for President?” Unfortunately, I underestimated myself a bit at that time, I thought there were other people in the BPF Party and that the administration knew better what to do. Unfortunately, I believed the administration back then. Now I see that I am better prepared and I am able to run for President. I am ready to fulfil the President’s functions so I agreed to run for the position.
– Imagine you failed to win the election. The leader of the BPF Party Alyaksei will grow old enough to run for President at the next election. Would you give way to him?
– If Alyaksei decided to become a candidate, I would.
– What can your promise to people? Can you describe it with one phrase?
– I cannot take a candidate who promises he will give this and that to people seriously. The authorities and the President should create good conditions for people in the country so that they could get an adequate income and live with dignity. To be precise, people should be allowed to do everything that is not forbidden by the law.
– Have you decided which people will be appointed Ministers, governors and take other positions requiring high responsibility? Do you think that all the current Ministers should be dismissed?
– I can tell you that we should not replace everyone. There are a lot of clever, educated and experienced people in the government, in the provinces, in regional and district executive committees. However, they are fettered now and we should just give them freedom. However, there is a candidate for the position of the Prime Minister – Milinkevich. The PM will be able to appoint all the other Ministers.
– What position will Alyaksei Yanukevich take?
– To tell the truth, we have not discussed it now. It is not worth to distribute the portfolios now – it is like eating the calf in the cow's belly.
– However, Milinkevcih has already got a piece of veal!
– Of course, we should work as team and we should have some goal. We already have the backbone of our team. Alyaksei Yanukevich is part of the backbone. But we have not distributed any portfolios yet.
– What will happen to such state structures as “White Russia” and the BRYU?
– Let them exist without state subsidies. If they survive, let them exist. If they don’t – it will be their fate.
– We have more policemen and members of security agencies per person than Russia has. What are you going to do about it?
– We have a plan to lay off some employees of security agencies. The money we will save on it will be allocated to young couples; it will be used to build flats for young couples having 3 or more children.
– What are you going to do to curb the inflation?
– We have to free entrepreneurs to keep the prices on the same level. We should sell land and unprofitable enterprises to private entrepreneurs.
– You have just mentioned unprofitable enterprises. What do you think should be done about them: should they be closed down or saved?
– Evidently, they should not be closed right away. It will result in a loss of many vacancies. You cannot dismiss so many people. There is an idea to auction all these enterprises.
– There will certainly be enterprises that nothing will be able to save and it will be necessary to close them down. Where will their employees be able to look for placement?
– I am sure that it will be possible to create new vacancies when the business is free. However, the vacancies will not correspond to the education of the jobless. It will require learning. The state should take care of it in the first place.
– Does Belarus need assignment?
– If people want to be assigned, let them be assigned. Those who are able and would like to look for placement on their own should be allowed to do it.
STREET QUESTIONS
– When will newly-married couples be able to build a flat quickly?
– Solving the housing problem for young couples is the first step in our programme. It concerns families having three or more children in the first place. Of course we will also try to solve the problems of the rest and to help those who do not have any accommodation. The approach should be well though-out. It is clear that the state should be able to allocate social accommodation to the people who are not able to build a flat or to get the money needed to buy one. Well-to-do people should be given opportunities: they should be able to get a plot to build a house or they should be able to buy a flat.
– Won’t life become worse than it is now?
– I do not think it can be worse than that. People should visit the neighbouring countries to understand it. Poland or Lithuania. We should learn by the neighbours’ experience and we should not be afraid of innovations.
– I am worried about relations with Russia because I work there. Will the old policy remain, will we finally unite, and will we introduce a common currency or not?
– We do not have to unite. I answer the question this way: everyone should live in a separate cosy flat instead of living in a communal one. We should establish good-neighbourly mutually beneficial relations with Russia. They should resemble our relations with Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine – we need to make friends with everyone. I know that anti-Belarusian ideas are appearing in Russia now. It is not normal. We have to be friends.
– What about the currency?
– We certainly do not need a common currency. As soon as a common currency in introduced, the country that will be able to print the banknotes will find itself in a more favourable position.
– Will the EU introduce a visa-free regime for Belarusians? How real is it and when will it happen?
– The European Union will agree on a visa-free entry for Belarusians only after a real border between Belarus and Russia is created. Europe will never agree to allow a visa-free entry without a solution to this problem. It does not mean I do not want to be friends with Russia. If the Russian border is not closed, Belarus will experience an influx of emigrants from other countries. Our goal should be providing Belarusians with a visa-free entry to Europe, making Belarus a member of the Schengen Agreement, an EU member state. But the problem should be solved as a complex.
– Will you involve your wives in big politics and in what way?
– I only have one wife and we have been married for more than 30 years. Of course, the President’s wife should help him the way she can. But she has to live with the President, with her husband. It is a normal situation, an international standard – it is a family standard. It means the relations in the family are normal!
– Will you let your wife be involved in politics on her own, like Clinton’s wife?
– The President’s wife should help her husband. She should either be involved in public activities or in something else. But she has to be with her husband.
– Mr.Ryhor, we know that you can write verses in addition to playing several musical instruments. Could you read something to us?
– I wrote a verse during one of my detentions – I do not remember which arrest it was as there were two of them in 2006 – I wrote it without a sheet of paper and without a pencil. We were not allowed to have them. That is why I remember it. I dedicated it to my wife, to the time when we first met more than 31 years ago.
Я сустрэўся з табой у белай квецені мая
Тады, як пялёсткі кружылі наўкол
Сарамліва, нясмела глядзеў табе ў вочы
Дакрануцца баяўся дрыготкай рукой
Не забыць мне ніколі тае майскае ночы
Як мы зоркі лічылі з табой удваіх
Калі я саграваў твае босыя ногі
Жарам вуснаў і рук разагрэтых сваіх
Хоць прайшло з той пары і нямала ўжо часу
Ды як сёння я помню той майскі наш дзень
Калі я сарамліва глядзеў табе ў вочы
Упершыню запрашаўшы на танец цябе
Калі я з захапленнем глядзеў табе ў вочы
Упершыню запрасіўшы на танец цябе
– What is your ideal of a political leader?
– I have never created any ideal for me - that is why I do not have any political ideal.
– What is your favourite book?
– Same here - there is no book I’d keep reading and re-reading. I read everything I come across.
– What is your favourite song? Something you could start murmuring when you sit down to meditate a bit...
– My favourite song is “Mighty God”. I like when it is performed by a good ensemble, a mighty one. For example, the way it was performed at the “Mighty God” festival in Mahilyou.
– Do you think the presidential salary should be bigger than a teacher’s salary?
– It should not be much bigger. To be precise, it should not exceed it by many times. Naturally, the President should have an adequate salary. However, teachers should also have adequate salaries. Presidents, engineers, doctors and street cleaners are educated by teachers.
– What is your attitude to sexual minorities?
– I take pity on them. I do not think that some things should be put “in the window”. I call it a show.
– How much money do you have on you?
– I have 50 thousand rubles and about a hundred dollars at the moment.
– How do you call your wife at home?
– I call her Larysa or Laryska.
– Can you name the most important family tradition?
– There is a tradition that existed in my family what I was a kid and lived with my parents: we always had dinner together every evening. The tradition was preserved in my family when I got married and when my children were born. Unfortunately, the children have already left home and we live together with my wife. However, we also sit quietly together from time to time. But the whole family gathers together on feast-days.
– What holiday would you like remove or add?
– I would surely add March 25. That is for sure! The day should be made a state holiday. The day of October Revolution is not a real holiday to me... We could leave it for the people who would like to celebrate it. But it is not a state holiday.
– Do you know how much a bottle of vodka is?
– About 20 thousands.
– How much should it be?
– It should cost as much as it does in European countries. But the price should be reasonable at the same time. The price should correspond to the average wage in our country. But vodka should not be cheap. However, speculation may start if it is too expensive.
– Do you make domestic wine or home-brew?
– I tried to make juice and fruit liquor in the past. My mother-in-law supplies me with it now.
– Does she make fruit liquor or home-brew?
–Well… both!
–How many close friends do you have and are they taking part in your election campaign?
– I should say that I do not have many friends. I made them in the places I used to live. I meet them from time to time and we are on friendly terms. My colleagues... Of course, not all of them are taking part in the election campaign – not everyone can do it. Those who can are helping me now.
– What polyclinic do you go to when you fall ill?
– I always try to go to Shklou polyclinic.
– Have you ever taken on a credit and what for?
– I haven’t. My principle is I should never tick. Only if there is no other way out. Furthermore, I have never taken on a state credit.
– Don’t you trust the state?
– I don’t!
– Tell us a joke, please.
– The joke is about potatoes. Chukchi men planted potatoes in the tundra. When they came to check whether the potatoes had sprouted in autumn it turned out they hadn’t. The Chukchi men were asked: “Where are the potatoes?” And they replied: “Chukchi men were hungry”. They dug out the potatoes soon after had planted them and they ate them. So, what’s the moral? To get a crop, you have to plant potatoes, cultivate them, spud them, take care of them and protect your plants from Colorado beetles. You have to work to get a good result.
PERSONALITY
– Why did you decide that you were able to become President?
– When I worked for the housing and communal services in 2001 my colleges used to say: “Why don’t you run for President?” Unfortunately, I underestimated myself a bit at that time, I thought there were other people in the BPF Party and that the administration knew better what to do. Unfortunately, I believed the administration back then. Now I see that I am better prepared and I am able to run for President. I am ready to fulfil the President’s functions so I agreed to run for the position.
– Imagine you failed to win the election. The leader of the BPF Party Alyaksei will grow old enough to run for President at the next election. Would you give way to him?
– If Alyaksei decided to become a candidate, I would.
– What can your promise to people? Can you describe it with one phrase?
– I cannot take a candidate who promises he will give this and that to people seriously. The authorities and the President should create good conditions for people in the country so that they could get an adequate income and live with dignity. To be precise, people should be allowed to do everything that is not forbidden by the law.
– Have you decided which people will be appointed Ministers, governors and take other positions requiring high responsibility? Do you think that all the current Ministers should be dismissed?
– I can tell you that we should not replace everyone. There are a lot of clever, educated and experienced people in the government, in the provinces, in regional and district executive committees. However, they are fettered now and we should just give them freedom. However, there is a candidate for the position of the Prime Minister – Milinkevich. The PM will be able to appoint all the other Ministers.
– What position will Alyaksei Yanukevich take?
– To tell the truth, we have not discussed it now. It is not worth to distribute the portfolios now – it is like eating the calf in the cow's belly.
– However, Milinkevcih has already got a piece of veal!
– Of course, we should work as team and we should have some goal. We already have the backbone of our team. Alyaksei Yanukevich is part of the backbone. But we have not distributed any portfolios yet.
– What will happen to such state structures as “White Russia” and the BRYU?
– Let them exist without state subsidies. If they survive, let them exist. If they don’t – it will be their fate.
– We have more policemen and members of security agencies per person than Russia has. What are you going to do about it?
– We have a plan to lay off some employees of security agencies. The money we will save on it will be allocated to young couples; it will be used to build flats for young couples having 3 or more children.
– What are you going to do to curb the inflation?
– We have to free entrepreneurs to keep the prices on the same level. We should sell land and unprofitable enterprises to private entrepreneurs.
– You have just mentioned unprofitable enterprises. What do you think should be done about them: should they be closed down or saved?
– Evidently, they should not be closed right away. It will result in a loss of many vacancies. You cannot dismiss so many people. There is an idea to auction all these enterprises.
– There will certainly be enterprises that nothing will be able to save and it will be necessary to close them down. Where will their employees be able to look for placement?
– I am sure that it will be possible to create new vacancies when the business is free. However, the vacancies will not correspond to the education of the jobless. It will require learning. The state should take care of it in the first place.
– Does Belarus need assignment?
– If people want to be assigned, let them be assigned. Those who are able and would like to look for placement on their own should be allowed to do it.
STREET QUESTIONS
– When will newly-married couples be able to build a flat quickly?
– Solving the housing problem for young couples is the first step in our programme. It concerns families having three or more children in the first place. Of course we will also try to solve the problems of the rest and to help those who do not have any accommodation. The approach should be well though-out. It is clear that the state should be able to allocate social accommodation to the people who are not able to build a flat or to get the money needed to buy one. Well-to-do people should be given opportunities: they should be able to get a plot to build a house or they should be able to buy a flat.
– Won’t life become worse than it is now?
– I do not think it can be worse than that. People should visit the neighbouring countries to understand it. Poland or Lithuania. We should learn by the neighbours’ experience and we should not be afraid of innovations.
– I am worried about relations with Russia because I work there. Will the old policy remain, will we finally unite, and will we introduce a common currency or not?
– We do not have to unite. I answer the question this way: everyone should live in a separate cosy flat instead of living in a communal one. We should establish good-neighbourly mutually beneficial relations with Russia. They should resemble our relations with Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine – we need to make friends with everyone. I know that anti-Belarusian ideas are appearing in Russia now. It is not normal. We have to be friends.
– What about the currency?
– We certainly do not need a common currency. As soon as a common currency in introduced, the country that will be able to print the banknotes will find itself in a more favourable position.
– Will the EU introduce a visa-free regime for Belarusians? How real is it and when will it happen?
– The European Union will agree on a visa-free entry for Belarusians only after a real border between Belarus and Russia is created. Europe will never agree to allow a visa-free entry without a solution to this problem. It does not mean I do not want to be friends with Russia. If the Russian border is not closed, Belarus will experience an influx of emigrants from other countries. Our goal should be providing Belarusians with a visa-free entry to Europe, making Belarus a member of the Schengen Agreement, an EU member state. But the problem should be solved as a complex.
– Will you involve your wives in big politics and in what way?
– I only have one wife and we have been married for more than 30 years. Of course, the President’s wife should help him the way she can. But she has to live with the President, with her husband. It is a normal situation, an international standard – it is a family standard. It means the relations in the family are normal!
– Will you let your wife be involved in politics on her own, like Clinton’s wife?
– The President’s wife should help her husband. She should either be involved in public activities or in something else. But she has to be with her husband.
– Mr.Ryhor, we know that you can write verses in addition to playing several musical instruments. Could you read something to us?
– I wrote a verse during one of my detentions – I do not remember which arrest it was as there were two of them in 2006 – I wrote it without a sheet of paper and without a pencil. We were not allowed to have them. That is why I remember it. I dedicated it to my wife, to the time when we first met more than 31 years ago.
Я сустрэўся з табой у белай квецені мая
Тады, як пялёсткі кружылі наўкол
Сарамліва, нясмела глядзеў табе ў вочы
Дакрануцца баяўся дрыготкай рукой
Не забыць мне ніколі тае майскае ночы
Як мы зоркі лічылі з табой удваіх
Калі я саграваў твае босыя ногі
Жарам вуснаў і рук разагрэтых сваіх
Хоць прайшло з той пары і нямала ўжо часу
Ды як сёння я помню той майскі наш дзень
Калі я сарамліва глядзеў табе ў вочы
Упершыню запрашаўшы на танец цябе
Калі я з захапленнем глядзеў табе ў вочы
Упершыню запрасіўшы на танец цябе
