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Belarusians working in the European Union can stop being listed as economically inactive at home. To do this, they must begin paying contributions to the Social Protection Fund (SPF). This was stated in an interview with Belarusian television by the head of a department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection Siarhei Katsko.
According to him, it is not possible to automatically exclude citizens working abroad from the database of those not engaged in the economy. Therefore, they must contact the employment assistance commission and provide their employment contract. After that, the commission decides whether to remove the person from the database.
“If someone works in the territory of the EAEU, they do not have to pay any additional contributions, only provide their employment contract and a certificate confirming that they are currently employed. The commission then decides to exempt them based on the contract’s duration, but for no more than one year, because a lot can change in a person’s life during that time. So a year later, they apply again, the commission reviews the documents confirming that they continue to work as of today, and they are again excluded from the database,” Katsko said.
“If someone works in the territory of the European Union, the procedure is slightly different. To be removed from the database of the economically inactive, a person must register with the Social Protection Fund in the Republic of Belarus and pay the corresponding insurance contributions. Then the fund will automatically exclude them from the database,” the Labour Ministry representative added.
Siarhei Katsko did not specify in what status such a person is registered with the SPF, nor the amount of contributions they must pay.
It should be recalled that in October Belarus changed the rules for calculating utility payments for properties owned by those not engaged in the economy. Previously, higher tariffs applied only to the share of the inactive owner; now they apply to the entire apartment or house. In November, many Belarusians received utility bills with large amounts, which sparked discussions on social media.