Mahiliou residents complain to Lukashenka about manipulations with their apartments

Residents of Mahiliou filed a collective appeal to President Lukashenka concerning their illegal eviction from their apartments. They require an examination of actions of the local officials, who can be involved in corruption schemes.

The appeal has been signed by 11 inhabitants of house No. 59 in Lenin Street. The people applies to Mr. Lukashenka as to their last resort, as all other state bodies including the executive committees, KGB, the State Control Committee, courts and the prosecutor's offices, proved to be indifferent to their problems.

The matters is that several families have been moved from apartments in the house No. 59 in Lenin Street to the hostel in Piyanerskaya Street, 48 on the initiative of the building trust No. 12. The evicted people state that they had been moved to the hostel from the unimproved house without their knowledge and consent, after which the house was passed to the building trust №12.

Meanwhile, all of them have documents for their apartments. All of them had flats, whose size ranged from 40 to 60 square meters, whereas now they have to live in a hostel, where the norm is just six square meters for a person.

“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the local authorities didn't let the tenants of the house to privatize their flats. They haven't issued any certificates for the construction of other premises, either. Due to the fact that the house needed major repairs, the people were prohibited to register other citizens in their apartments,” says the lawyer of the Trade Union of Radio Electronic Industry Alena Barysava.

On January 28, 2014 the court found the house No. 59 in Lenin Street as unsuitable for living, and its tenants were relocated. However, the people were moved not to flats, but to rooms in a hostel.

“Meanwhile, four Mahiliou families have evidence that the house in which they lived for several decades, is a block of flats, not a hostel,” says Alena Barysava.

The lawyer points that the people have the warrants for the issue of apartments to them. Secondly, there is a regulation of the Ministry of Public Utilities of the Council of Ministers of the BSSR of 2 September 1967 on the hostels of the main department of the Department of Public Utilities at the Council of Ministers of the BSSR, in accordance with which the decision on the granting of the hostel is to be confirmed by a warrants for dwelling space in a hostel, whereas the people don't have such warrants. Instead, they have warrants for getting the apartments. Thirdly, in the written responses of the public utilities for 2009 and 2013 it is indicated that the premises occupied by the people are flats. Fourth, the fees for the utilities were always paid as for flats, not hostels. Fifth, a house register was conducted in the house and the personal data of the registered people were put in it. House registers, are kept only in the houses whose premises are owned by their tenants. Sixth, individual contracts were singed with the tenants for the supply of gas in cylinders and putting telephone lines by "Beltelecom" in the flats. There is no signature of the commandant of the house, because the house has never had such commandant. Seventh, furniture and other equipment is owned by the citizens, and is not provided to them, as in a hostel. Eighth, before the urgent need to resettle the people elsewhere, building trust №12 recognized the right of citizens to receive apartments. This follows from the answer of the Executive Committee for the year 2007 about finding an investor for the construction of a new house instead of the existing one and giving new flats to the citizens. Ninth, according to the schedule of the reception of the property, Building trust №12 transferred to the balance of the executive committee a house in the state of emergency, not a hostel.

As it became known at the trial, the house No. 59 in Lenin Street was registered at the registration bodies and technical inventory of real estate asa "hostel" only in 1988, i.e. after the settlement of citizens in the apartments. The tenants weren't informed about it.

“At the moment, the administration is trying to conclude five-year dwelling contracts with the people. After the expiry of these contracts the people may be thrown out to the streets,” notes Alena Barysava.

As the house has been passed to the Mahiliou City Executive Committee, the people believe that a new house would soon appear there, because the location in the city center is very attractive for potential investors. However, there is still no answer whether the people will receive apartments.