140,000 entrepreneurs on strike across Belarus

70% of entrepreneurs on Friday took part in a nation-wide strike.

Since the president's decree No 760 is not suspended, entrepreneurs' leaders maintain they will stage a protest on January 10 at the central square in Minsk, said Viktar Harbachou, the chairman of the committee "For a Free Development of Entrepreneurship", reports Charter'97.

According to Harbachou, around 140,000 sole entrepreneurs are reported to be striking since January 1. In Minsk, from 30 to 80 percent of entrepreneurs have not shown up at work.

Harbachou notes that the latest protest by entrepreneurs is the biggest and most organized in the history of independent Belarus. He thinks this scaries the authorities who are forced to at least pretend to seek a compromise with the strikers.