Russian retiree gives Belarus' Lushenko 1,000 dollars, gets fridge

Dec 31, 2007, 9:48 GMT

Minsk - A Russian pensioner donated 1,000 dollars of her personal savings to Belarus' authoritarian President Aleksander Lukashenko and received a refrigerator in return, the Belapan news agency reported Monday.

Galina Makeeva, a resident of the Russian northern port city St Petersburg, made the end-of-the-year gift 'as support to the Belarusian people,' Korrespondent magazine reported Makeeva as explaining.

The Belarusian leader 'is an honest person and will be able to direct the funds correctly,' she said.

Lukashenko, a former collective farm boss, returned the gesture by ordering Makeeva be awarded Belarusian household appliances, specifically an Atlant refrigerator and a Gorizont television.

Atlant and Gorizont are factories owned and operated by the Belarusian state. Their products when sold abroad compete at the low end of the market due to low price and simplicity.

The two items to be received by Makeeva exceeded the value of her contribution to Lukashenko. 'The president is not in debt,' according to a statement on his website.

Lukashenko has maintained widespread popularity since taking over Belarus in a 1996 constitutional coup, in large part by retaining substantial benefits for retirees, who constitute one-third of Belarus' aging population.

Pensions in Belarus' state-run economy average between 200 and 300 dollars a month, and retirees in the former Soviet republic enjoy price breaks on everything from public transport to staple foods.

The benefits package for retired persons in neighbouring Russia is less generous, with pensioners often struggling to make ends meet due to high prices for food and medicine.

Makeeva's 1,000-dollar gift represents several years of savings, by the standards of a low-income Russian retiree.