27 February 2002
Cash-starved collective farms in Pruzhany district pay wages with coupons
Cash-starved collective farms in the Pruzhany district, Brest region, paid part of wages for December last year with coupons.
For instance, the management of the Iskra collective farm told BelaPAN that it paid 30 percent of December's wages in coupons, which workers can exchange for food and consumer goods at local stores.
Vladimir Senchuk, deputy chairman of the Pruzhany District Executive Committee, said that the collective farmers should not worry if they fail to use their coupons before March 1 -- they will be able to exchange them for cash as soon as the crisis is over.
The average pre-tax wage in the Brest region amounted to 137,100 rubels ($83) in January, a fall of 5.3 percent from December 2001, the Regional Statistics Department reported. Wages in agriculture averaged 82,500 rubels ($50), collective farmers earned even less - 70,700 rubels ($43). About 30 percent of the agricultural enterprises in the
region operate at a loss.
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