The public sector is anticipating changes in the management policy; the Interior Ministry puts emphasis on public safety

Downsizing in the Interior Ministry has prompted it to consider ways to emphasise the ministry’s role in ensuring public safety, which could give momentum to security officials and increase tension in society. The Belarusian leadership appears to be ready to change approaches to management in the public sector due to cooperation with international financial institutions.

The ongoing downsizing in the Interior Ministry, aimed at stepping up the discipline and boosting wage growth, should reduce its staff by 10%. In some regions, such policy has resulted in public conflicts as employees pointed to the discrepancy between the wage size and the workload. In addition, law enforcers often appear in media reports due to the controversial behaviour. The ministry’s attempts to emphasize its importance in maintaining public order have prompted excessive activity in ensuring statistical indicators, as was the case with mass detentions in Minsk.

Relations between Minsk and international financial institutions have reached high confidence levels, which prompted the Belarusian leadership to relax their attitude towards reforms in the public sector. However, this does not mean a massive privatisation of state-owned enterprises, rather, adopting a new approach to state asset management. The EBRD is likely to assist Belarus with the transformation, since after the terminated of its activity in Russia, it plans to increase investment in Belarus.

Due to cooperation with international financial institutions, the Belarusian leadership may support an ad hoc privatisation with the participation of Western investors.