National parks, offices, lotteries - a billionaire would envy such a set. The company under the discreet name "Belarustorg" gives such a turnover of money that others could not even dream of. And the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus disposes of this good.
The Administration of the President of Belarus is an organization that lives on its own. Its leaders, popularly called "presidential supplies manager", keep the most profitable sectors of the economy on the threads. And through these very threads, millions of profits of controlled organizations are pumped. Someone was better at it, someone, like the infamous Galina Zhuravkova, who was found to have embezzled $ 3.6 million, worse.
What is included in a gigantic empire controlled personally by the head of state? According to official estimates, as many as 80 organizations have a cumbersome appendage to the name, which indicates the owner - "The Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus."
The website of the Administration of Affairs notes that the recruitment of “poor chicks” under the presidential wing began in the mid-90s, when a number of cultural enterprises were unprofitable. The goal was one - to save the enterprise for the future. Factories of art products, ceramics, souvenirs - indeed, they needed support. But business administration did not live on ceramics alone. Trade on behalf of the state is the main source of profit.
The company under the discreet name "Belarustorg" gives such a turnover of money that others never dreamed of. The import of alcohol, cigarettes and timber is a multi-billion dollar guarantee of the success of a wholesale enterprise. And such organizations also receive discounts "for the poor"! For example, the import of coal by Belarustorg into the country this half of the year will not even be taxed.
Rest after a long, hard work
The administration took over the sanatoriums outside the country, which were inherited from the BSSR. Tuapse, Druskininkai, Yalta, Sochi, Jurmala... There was no talk of selling them even in times of serious financial problems. It is not worth talking about sanatoriums and rest houses inside Belarus. "Youth", "Borovoe", "Sosny" - trade unionists used to come here to be treated on free vouchers, now - Russians tired of Turkish and Egyptian beaches.
The tourist operator "Center-Kurort" determines whether to allocate vouchers to the sanatoriums listed above for those who wish. The organization also owns more than ten pharmacies in the capital.
RUE "Belarusian Lotteries" remains the largest player in the lottery business, offering twenty games. The main brand "Vashe Loto" continues to compete with "Superlato" by Dmitry Lukashenko, but the company has other games, both draw and instant.
National Presidential Parks
The country has five national parks- "Belovezhskaya Pushcha", "Narochansky", "Pripyatsky", "Berezinsky" and "Braslav Lakes". All these unique natural objects in the mid-90s came under the control of the UDP.
Head of State Alexander Lukashenko likes to repeat that the parks were handed over to the Administration on time. Say, only in this way it was possible to preserve them in their primary pure form.
One way or another, but corruption in the parks is rampant. Since that time, the number of park managers arrested has steadily increased. In the Braslav National Park alone, three appointed directors went on trial in turn. All of them - personally appointed by the president - were accused of abuse of power. The plan for felling in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the shooting of bison - all these are also facts of recent years.
"President Hotel". Visiting the President
Today UDP owns three hotels in the capital. The most prestigious is the four-star "Minsk", which stands on Independence Square itself. "Planet" and "Jubilee" have "only" three stars, and are further from the center. The lack of stardom should be compensated for by the "President Hotel", which is being built at an accelerated pace in the quarter adjacent to the residence of the head of state.
On the other side of it there is a "medical commission" - an elite hospital headed by Irina Abelskaya.
... Construction trusts, experimental collective farms, shopping centers- here is an incomplete list of what is left out of our attention. And there is also the Department of humanitarian action, who decides whether he is entitled to spend any money transfers from abroad ...
And what profits are brought by office buildings throughout Minsk, which the Office of Affairs once took almost into in full force. They don't ask for food, but they bring rent.
For comparison, there are 50 organizations under the control of the Administration of the President of Ukraine. In vast Russia there are 105 organizations, but a dozen of them are kindergartens.
The real trade turnover of the Belarusian business empire has never been made public. According to the testimony of the former supply manager Ivan Titenkov, even in his time, in the late 90s, the profit was worth billions of dollars.
Presidential "caretakers"
Ivan Titenkov 1994-1999 - fled to Russia
Vladimir Goncharenko 1999-2001 - former Minister of Communications
Galina Zhuravkova 2001-2004 - was convicted by the court, but pardoned by the president
Gennady Lavrenkov 2004-2005
Alexander Kulichkov 2005-2008 - former Minister of Trade
Nikolai Domashkevich 2008-2009 - former leader Minsk region
Nikolai Korbut since 2009.
I was waiting for a taxi in Almi and noticed a table with the inscription "Superloto". It turns out that all these Belarusian lotteries are still alive, and even someone plays them. I thought they had already lost believers in a miracle, but no - someone else is ready to give money for a microscopic chance to win big money prize. It seems to me that any lottery is impossible without the involvement of ever new masses of workers to replace those who have already played enough and become disillusioned. The statistics are relentless: millions play, and only a few win significant prizes. To be honest, I also bought tickets for “Your Lotto” and “Superloto” several times, and even once “raised” the amount equivalent to three dollars. In short, while I was standing in Almi waiting for a taxi, I got the idea to see what was being played in the most popular Belarusian lotteries. I must say, the characters are different now ...
Probably, lotteries in Belarus gained special popularity with the launch of “Your Lotto”. Here I must say that my work biography even a little connected with the organizer of this game, although all this was extremely long ago.
“Your Loto” was shown in the evening prime time on the main TV channel of the country and in live played out big prizes. At the peak of popularity yellow tickets with a terrible logo gave a chance to get a freebie apartment or an impressive amount of money. “Vashe Lotto” pushed out “Superloto”, however, in general, the market was enough for everyone, until, apparently, the numerous financial crises taking place in the country made their own adjustments. And, of course, a certain satiety with these practical jokes.
Now the lottery is shown on Tuesdays on the Belarus-3 TV channel. It is useless to look for information about the prize fund of the upcoming draw on the official website - I personally did not find it. Therefore, I had to find the previous episode of the program and watch its beginning. So, here's what you can win in "Your Lotto" (ticket price is 3.5 rubles):
I do not understand the essence of these tours, but since the meaning of the game has remained the same, and prize fund announced, we can conclude that it is impossible to get rich on "Your Lotto". More precisely, not only to get rich, but even having hit the "jackpot" - not to buy a normal car.
But "Superloto" (ticket price 3 rubles) does not hesitate to announce prizes in each round. What can be won:
As you can see, everything here is more than modest. Scooter in the first round, 10 thousand rubles in the second, car in the third. Where are the apartments? Where are the stunning grandmas played earlier? However, the answers to these questions are simple: no ticket sales, no prize fund.
There is another relatively popular lottery with the famous Sportloto brand. As before, it is held in two formats - 5 out of 36 (participation fee is 2 rubles) and 6 out of 49 (participation fee is 1.5 rubles). That is, you need to guess 5 or 6 dropped numbers to take the main prize.
In 5 out of 36 it is 70 thousand rubles (and the rest of the prizes are only from 2 to 130 rubles), and in 6 out of 49 it is as much as 700 thousand. But, I hasten to cool those hurrying for lottery coupons, the jackpot was not drawn in 6 out of 49 even once. On the other hand, 700 thousand rubles is a very good amount.
It should be noted that all lotteries try to keep up with the times. You can buy tickets not only on paper, but also in electronic format. Lotteries issue special applications for mobile phones so that you can take part anywhere and this, of course, Right way development.
It is curious that Belarusian networks of retailers have become involved in the conditional lottery business. Why conditionally? Because it's not like lotteries, but promotional games in which large prizes are raffled off. Here, of course, is the leader of Euroopt, who every two weeks launches his “Luck in addition” live. The participation scheme involves the involvement of buyers through purchases in the store: for every 10 rubles in the check, provided that it contains a Good Luck Goods (it can be anything - the set of goods changes every two weeks) and the use of the E-plus loyalty card, a numerical code.
Prizes are not weak. For example, in the next draw, this is an apartment in Minsk, two cars, two prizes of 20 thousand rubles each, as well as tickets for concerts, tours at sea, certificates for small amounts. Many times more people play “Luck in addition” than “traditional” lotteries. I also connected a loyalty card through the site, and if I remember to buy this “Good Luck Goods”, I get my codes. I have never won anything, from my acquaintances one guy received the smallest certificate. But not enough :)
Do you play lotteries? There is an acquaintance of a friend cousin who won something big?
The person who got the most big win in the history of Belarusian lotteries - 2 billion rubles - lives on a farm in the Vitebsk region. Surprisingly, others do not hesitate to advertise luxury, but he fears that he will be condemned for a modest lifestyle.
Everyone dreams of winning the lottery. How else to explain that so many "tickets for change" diverge from the branches of banks and post offices? the site continues a series of materials about those who are lucky enough to hit the jackpot.
An apartment in Cyprus? No thanks
From Minsk to the house of Nikolai Terevyainen on the border of the Braslav and Miory districts is more than 4 hours away. We find it by the identification mark given by the owner himself - stone "snails" by the road. Apart from them, Tereväinen's billionaire plot is no different from the neighboring ones.
- After winning we were advised to invest in real estate. Then in another newspaper there was a headline "A family from the Miory district could buy three apartments in Minsk or one in Cyprus, but remained to live in the village", - Nikolai Tengovich leads to the house. He didn't even think of selling it.
He lived all his life in the village of lumberjacks in Karelia, and after his retirement he came to Belarus with his wife Elena Vasilievna and younger son Vanya - to settle in the aunt's house. He recalls that the housing was in a terrible state, it was necessary to urgently change the roof. Nikolai Tengovich, an experienced hunter, planned to sell his carbine and start repairs. But then the wife bought another "troika" of lottery tickets.
- Before the New Year, December 25, I went to the post office. There remained the last two "C grades". The worker held out tickets, says, choose. I waved my hand, saying that you give, you give,- Elena Vasilievna cuts the cake. Remembering the win, she remains unperturbed. - Then she said that it would be better if she took both "troikas" for herself.
The news of the lucky Tereväinen spread throughout the district, although at first they did not believe in luck. Nikolai Tengovich took the ticket for examination and for a month and a half, while it lasted, he suspected fraud. The fact that he is now the owner of 2 billion rubles, he finally believed only at the presentation. The winning certificate still hangs on the veranda of Tereväinen's house. And nearby is stored recently harvested potatoes from the field.
"Money" cat
- there was interesting case. A couple of months before the win, a ginger kitten nailed to us. My sister came to visit and, hearing about it, even her face changed. Brother, he says, you will be rich. And we have troubles, the household, my son and I were just repairing the barn ..., - Nikolai Tengovich then waved his hand at both the cat and the words of his sister, and now he talks about it with a gleam in his eyes. - The cat was difficult. When the devaluation happened in May 2011 and the dollar disappeared, he left. Only the dollar appeared in the exchangers - the cat came again and lived with us for a whole year.
Nikolai Tengovich remembers how it is now: he and his wife went to win on February 22, 2011. At first, he wanted to keep money in different currencies, buy 5 million Russian rubles, 100 thousand dollars and 100 thousand euros. However, the bank convinced not to withdraw money from the account immediately.
- They told me, look at the percentages. We calculated that in 3 months we will "drip" 70 million rubles. I did withdraw $70,000 for a car and put some more aside for house renovations. The rest remained on the account in Belarusian rubles. Then everything was fine, there were no prerequisites,- Nikolai Tengovich shrugs his shoulders, as if justifying himself for the fact that in six months his winnings have depreciated 3 times.
Outside the window are two black Toyota: Hilux and Land Cruiser. The last billionaire managed to buy until the dollar disappeared from the exchangers. "If I had known that the money would be lost, I would have brought three Land Cruisers"- either in jest, or seriously, the owner of the house says. He does not regret the lost money, but he still thinks that, if he did not listen to others, in a year there would already be 4 billion in the account.
- 120 thousand dollars for two cars, 10 thousand dollars for a tractor, about 30 thousand dollars for a house and the same amount for a barn,- Nikolai Tengovich bends his fingers. - Thousand 200 dollars we have spent. There is still a little.
The economy of billionaires
The billionaires Tereväinen have a large household. Jessica the cow mooing in the meadow behind the house. Her son Ivan came up with her name. He also offered to breed Vietnamese mini-pigs and buy sheep. The 21-year-old young man loves to mess around with domestic animals and is not yet eager to move to the city.
We have a lot of rabbits- Nikolai Terevyainen shows cells with eared giants.
There are 13 chickens and 23 ducks crawling in the yard near the house. All the grass is strewn light white feathers. A little further on, chickens chirp. They were put under a net so that the kite would not carry it away. A bird eats about 100 kilograms of feed per week.
Nikolai Tengovich looks around the yard with a satisfied look:
- If not for the win, of course, we would not have lined up so quickly. How was it before? Rocker on the shoulders and 150 meters to the spring, for water. My son and I carried 20-liter buckets. And then a friend suggested to me to put a column. I didn't even know that it was possible to turn a village house into an apartment with all conveniences.
Huge Karelian elk antlers hang on the wall of the shed where coal is stored. Nikolai Terevyainen says that the animal to which they belonged weighed 400 kilograms. But this was not his largest prey.
- Moose are easy to kill. The main thing is to see him. But I shot mine. It's a pity, is it,- says Nikolai Tengovich. Nearby, the shaggy shepherd dog Pantik is straining from barking. - Don't come close. So he does not bite, but he can bite, the devil knows.
Nikolai Tereväinen bought a carbine back in the early nineties.
- The weapon then cost 25 thousand rubles, and the beautiful, modern motorcycle "IZH Planeta-5" - 17 thousand, - he remembers.
The winner of the lottery has never felt a particular need for money. He worked all his life as a lumberjack. While the Soviet engineer was thinking how to live on 120 rubles, Nikolai Tengovich received 300-400. True, in an era of scarcity, it was difficult to buy anything for them.
Now he feels like a wealthy person, although the status of billionaires has not changed anything in the life of the Tereväinen family. Soon Nikolai Tengovich and Elena Vasilievna are going on vacation for the first time in 3 years. Not to the Maldives or Greece, but to the south of Belarus, to relatives. Does not pull them to foreign resorts.
Nikolai Tengovich does not want to be tried for a modest lifestyle strangers. Therefore, he did not immediately agree to speak with journalists. When asked why the Tereväinen family did not leave their farm, the answer is thick grass in the yard, a forest behind the barn, a lake a little further away and yellow leaves, rain flying from the trees - the very nature, the existence of which the inhabitants of the cities almost forgot.
Lukashenka's case management website reports that their offspring founded only 26 lotteries. Recently published State Register strict liability forms says that "Belarusian lotteries" owns 41 circulation, instant and money-thing lotteries.
Today this institution is "the largest organizer of republican and local lotteries." BL proudly write about this on its own website.
“The funds are directed to the most important social programs in the state and local budgets,” says the founder of the lottery monopolist. However, as Belsat found out, there is not a word about this in the state budget for 2012.
From cats to elephants
Monopoly's arsenal includes lotteries for every taste. With discreet names: "Tourist", "Spring", "Anniversary". With ideological and patriotic names: "Victory", "Dozhinki", "Gomelchanka". With professional titles: “150 years of the fire service”, “Festive. 100 years of trade unions”, “For security”. There are also lotteries of interest: "Olympic", "Moment of luck: elephant and cats", "Casino", etc.
Cynical business with provincials in mind
Economist Leonid Zaiko is skeptical about lotteries. He only once won about $20 in Soviet times. Then lotteries were distributed by Komsomol workers. With the winnings, the professor bought a silver spoon for his daughter.
“Lotteries are business as usual. It is available in the US and China. Due to this business, a number of officials live. Of course, there are microscopic revenues to the budget, which you should not pay attention to,” he says.
According to the expert, lotteries have ceased to be a kind of entertainment in Belarus. Their creators resort to social deceit when they promise an apartment for $70,000 to people whose salaries are no more than $300. For many Belarusians, lotteries are the only chance to get decent housing.
“Therefore, single women with children buy lotteries. Migrants, girls and boys who came from the village and are not able to buy apartments, as the daughter of the chairman of the local executive committee does. This form of social abuse", - says Leonid Zaiko.
In Soviet times, you could get a motorcycle, there were lotteries of culture with books as prizes. According to the expert, now insignificant people have come to the lottery< trong>, which "are not able to manage a bathhouse."
When on TV they show dressed up Roman patricians and girls in golden costumes, this is directed primarily at the provincials. According to Leonid Zaika, this alone shows that such a business is designed for a rural resident who has never been anywhere and seen nothing.
Onliner.by continues the cycle of production reports. Today we will talk about the "kitchen" of the Belarusian lotteries. Where and how are tickets printed, is it possible to calculate the winnings, and what does a portrait of a typical player look like? About all this - in our photo essay.
How does the lottery start?
It is generally accepted that in Belarus lottery activities have gained unprecedented scope in the post-Soviet expanses. Several organizations are engaged in it, among which two largest ones stand out. The founder of the UE "National Sports Lotteries" is the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, and the Republican Unitary Enterprise "Belarusian Lotteries" - the Office of the President. We visited the "Belarusian lotteries" with an excursion.
What is a lottery in the mind of an ordinary Belarusian, what associations does this word evoke? Offhand: aggressive advertising, distributors in vests on the streets of cities, TV shows on weekends and the faces of those who are lucky enough to win a car or even a three-ruble note in a new building. This, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Each lottery, according to the organizers, begins with a goal and an idea.
- According to Belarusian legislation, the republican authorities can act as the founder of the lottery government controlled or local executive committees,- Svetlana Korzhemanova, Deputy Head of the Department of Advertising and Lottery Activities of the Republican Unitary Enterprise “Belarusian Lotteries”, conducts an educational program for us. - The founder determines the purpose of the lottery, that is, the socially significant program where the money will be sent. This may be the development of physical culture and sports, healthcare, education, elimination of the consequences of accidents and natural Disasters, protection of nature and culture, etc. For example, the Ministry of Emergency Situations is the founder of the "For Security" lottery, and one of the goals of its holding is to obtain additional Money for measures to eliminate natural and man-made emergencies. The Ministry of Labor has established the “Milasernasts” lottery, the purpose of which is to receive additional funds for programs for the rehabilitation of disabled children. The Ministry of Culture holds the Skarbnitsa lottery, etc.
- All over the world, lotteries are held in order to receive additional funds for social programs. Each founder of the lottery in our country directs the proceeds to a specific project: the development of schools, helping children, etc. And if a person is not lucky to win, he should understand that his small contribution went to a good cause for society.
The economy of any lottery, experts explain, is as follows: according to the law, 45-50% of the amount for sold tickets is returned to players with winnings. For example, if before next edition"Your Lotto" sold 100 thousand lottery tickets worth 10 thousand rubles (earned a billion), then at least 500 million people will return.
- And all these remaining 50% will go to "social needs"? we doubt.
- From the rest of the amount are made lottery tickets, issued wage implementers, the results of the draws are published, and the relevant taxes are paid. But the rest of the profits, of course, goes to lotteries.
Delivered to the conveyor
Dealt with goals. What does the technology look like? Every day at the printing enterprises of the country that have a special permit from the Department of State Signs of the Ministry of Finance for the production of letterheads strict accountability, print thousands of lottery tickets. In the Belarusian House of Printing, we saw how this hidden from view ordinary person process. After all, tickets - like passports - are made in a "regime" environment.
The first stage is the development of design and the issuance of the original layout. Further, on special equipment, purchased recently, including for the sake of "lottery" purposes, the production of printing forms is carried out.
The seal itself: for the time being, we do not receive a ticket, but simply "blanks", sheets of paper that are not of material value.
The blank acquires "meaning" in the department of personification. Here, data on the amount of winnings is applied to the ticket (we are talking about instant lotteries), after which they cover the forms with special paint.
- Remove sheets only from a distance,- Printers command our photojournalist.
The employees of the shop are miserable people! For a few moments, until the paint hid the secret, they possess the most valuable information about where the car is “hidden” and where the apartment is. Naturally, we asked whether it is realistic in practice to mark winning ticket and then trace its path. Experts say that even in theory this is impossible. From the printing house, all tickets are sent to the BL warehouse, among thousands of others they are scattered throughout the country. Yes, and the workers of the workshop are responsible for non-disclosure.
Finally, tickets are scanned in the primary control department - this procedure is repeated at the BL office. Here, lottery tickets are counted again and then they determine where and in what quantity to send them. The decision is made on the basis of sales monitoring. For example, “Your Lotto” is most actively played in Minsk, Gomel and the Gomel region are in second place, then Vitebsk, Mogilev. Western regions - Grodno and Brest - close the list.
Tickets are delivered not in cash-in-transit cars, but it makes no sense to “rob” lottery stagecoaches - all forms are marked, in case of loss they will be immediately excluded from the draw.
What happens with tickets that can't be sold? 10-20% return to the head office, re-scan, go for destruction. How many tickets suffer such a fate, they do not say - a trade secret.
What is the math here?
While trucks are delivering lottery tickets around the country, we are trying to understand what attitude to production cycle science has. The organizers say: to build a mathematical model of the lottery, they used the developments of the Research Institute of Applied Problems of Mathematics and Informatics and employees of the FPMI of the Belarusian State University.
- We want to make, say, a children's lottery,- gives an example of the head of the profile department of "BL" Gennady Shablovsky. - Decide on the number and type of games. Next, you need to understand how to distribute the winnings. If the entire prize fund is reduced to one ticket, then there will be an excellent prize of a billion rubles, and nothing will remain in the rest. It is unlikely that anyone will want to play such a lottery. This means that there should be a lot of winnings, among them there should be large ones (like a car, an apartment, a computer, a mountain bike) and smaller prizes. Actually, this distribution is the mathematics.
WITH television lotteries like "Your loto" everything is simple. The numbers on the tickets are randomly distributed according to a few basic rules. There cannot be two identical tickets, all numbers must meet evenly, etc.
- Some people choose tickets for a long time before buying, looking for more suitable ones. Is there any rationale for this? we ask the obvious question.
- Absolutely none. Well, unless someone has favorite numbers that bring him good luck,- says Gennady Shablovsky.
- We are familiar with the participants of the lotteries, who have been running bases on "Sportloto" since the Soviet times. What's the point of this? There is a law big numbers: if you throw a coin a billion times, then, according to the theory, half a billion should be heads, half a billion - tails. But in practice, it can be 495 million by 505. In percentage terms, there is almost no difference, but in absolute terms, the difference is 10 million. No, nothing can be calculated, otherwise it would not be a lottery. As for the “Your Lotto” lottery, of course, you can try to determine which kegs with which numbers most often remain in the bag at the end of the draw. But even here you should not believe in coincidences.
Every fourth ticket, lottery organizers say in their advertisement, is a winning one. More than 15 thousand for all the time, the chief mathematician of "BL" honestly admits, he never received. The cost of losses was not considered. “20 years ago I quit smoking. I save on cigarettes - I spend on lotteries. How much did I earn from this or not? I have already won unequivocally in health, but I continue to play the lottery.
Ministry of Health does not warn
Why do Belarusians actively play lotteries? Thanks to hyperactive advertising? Or because we live in poor country, where the majority of residents cannot earn money for an apartment-car on their own?
- Open the Internet: in Russia, in Ukraine there are many lotteries, which, however, are given into private hands, our interlocutors do not agree. - In our country, the state exercises strict control over lottery activities, it is completely transparent.
Curiously, lotteries are not gambling business. Accordingly, it turns out that regular ticket buyers cannot get sick with gambling addiction. The Ministry of Health “does not warn” players…
- Our people are quite reasonable, calm, moderate. We have not seen cases of sick dependence on lotteries,- says Svetlana Korzhemanova.
What is "painful"?- we specify. - This is when they buy tickets for the entire salary?
- Like that. After all, they say that an alcoholic cannot live a day without drinking. But we never had such players.
But what were. In the "Belarusian lotteries" they tried to draw a portrait of a typical lottery participant. More often women play, residents of the capital or regional centers. Age and social status- various. From student to plant manager.
By the way, it was a resident of the regional center who received one of the largest prizes in the history of Belarusian lotteries - a billion rubles. It happened last year. We contacted Natalia, who works for a private firm, and asked what she spent the money on.
- I built an apartment as a young family, bought a car - this was my biggest dream. Helped relatives. The rest I put in the bank for the unborn child.
Well, quite predictable.
- Why is there a sharply negative attitude towards lotteries, especially among Belarusian youth?- we do not refrain from the actual question in the end.
- I repeat once again: at least 45% of the money spent on the purchase of tickets is returned to the players. If you spent a ruble, then you will get 50 kopecks back,- answers Svetlana Korzhemanova. - Pro social projects also many people forget. As well as about the fact that lotteries to raise funds ordinary people are used all over the world. Do you think: someone will spend the last penny to play the lottery? Of course not!
