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Franak Viačorka, an advisor to opposition leader Sviatlan Cichanouskaya, spoke with BNS the day after it was announced that Swedbank had frozen the sanitarium’s accounts.
The accounts have been frozen due to the EU sanctions against the Central Economic Board in the presidential administration of Belarus. The sanatorium functions as a public body and the agricultural board is a shareholder of the sanatorium.
‘A. Lukashenko’s state turned into a mafia state. The Presidential Administration company owns many businesses, restaurants, supermarkets, private medical centers and even sanitariums, ”F. Viačorka told BNS on Tuesday.
“This organization is on the sanctions list and the account blocking is the result of the Lukashenko state mafia structure,” he said.
According to him, to achieve changes it is necessary to “dismantle the vertical of Lukashenko’s power.”
“We not only fight for free elections, we fight corruption. The truth is that this sanatorium is part of a corrupt system,” said F. Viačorka.
An opposition activist said he hoped the European Union institutions would identify and seize more accounts belonging to the Lukashenko regime on the sanctions list.
According to him, these steps can be expected in January, as the implementation of the sanctions generally takes time.
According to Sodra, the Belorus Sanitarium employs 393 people.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that it is currently clarifying what assistance can be provided to Lithuanians working in the sanatorium.
“We understand that several hundred Lithuanian citizens working for this Belarusian company in Druskininkai are in a difficult situation. We are currently explaining whether there are opportunities to help the Lithuanian people who have suffered while working for the regime of Belarusian President Aliaksandr Lukashenko. However, without the end of the protests and their illegal repression, the risk for companies that work directly with the regime is growing, ”said Foreign Minister Vytautė Šmaižytė, spokesperson for the Foreign Minister.
The EU has imposed sanctions on Belarus for electoral fraud and violence against peaceful protesters.
For the fifth consecutive month, there have been massive protests in Belarus over the presidential elections on August 9, which have been officially announced by Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994. The opposition and western democracies consider these elections to be rigged.
The protesters are demanding the resignation of Lukashenko, the release of political prisoners and new elections.
Viachorka said they had recently moved to residential areas, but Lukashenko’s so-called popular gathering in February could again spark mass demonstrations in city centers.
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