20 July 2003
Brest region governor takes district chiefs to task
Vasily Dolgolyov, chairman of the Brest Regional Executive Committee, on July 14 took district executive chiefs to task for wage arrears in the agricultural sector and failure to meet production growth targets.
He gave district heads one month to improve the situation, threatening that they may lose their jobs on September 1 if the deadline is not met. Mr. Dolgolyov particularly criticized the leadership of the Zhabinka, Malorita, Kamenets, Pinsk, Ivanovo and Pruzhany districts, according to Roman Voitishko, press secretary of the regional government.
Mr. Dolgolyov demanded the regional "vertical" cut by 50 percent the managerial staff of collective farms and district agriculture departments. He said that the management of unprofitable farms should consist of two people – the farm director and the chief accountant. Mr. Dolgolyov said that managers should not receive their pay until they pay wages to farmers. The regional governor gave scolding to district chiefs four days after he and other regional leaders came under harsh criticism from Belarusian ruler Aleksandr Lukashenko for ineffective work, debts to
farmers and falsifications of reports. The press office claims that the regional government pays much attention to personnel management. In
particular, it says, in 2003 the regional governor sacked the heads of the Stolin and Drogichin district executive committees, two deputy heads of the district government in Baranovichi, and 23 farm directors.
The regional government has recently dismissed the director and the chief accountant of the milk and cheese factory in Stolin for errors in statistical reports and poor performance.
http://brestonline.com/en/news/news437.html