Government officials, army generals, and ideologists: who are the leaders of the Trade Union Federation of Belarus

We continue exploring what the current Trade Union Federation of Belarus is about. The next topic in line is the FPB’s HR policy.

The FPB building with a broadcast of the parade on May 9, 2025

Elena Klichkovskaya also comes from the corps of government officials. In the past, she held the position of Chief Executive Officer in the Homyel Regional Administration.

In November 2024, Andrei Zhuk, a major general who had been dismissed from the position of the Deputy Minister of Defense upon reaching the retirement age, was elected Chairman of the Minsk regional organization of the Belarusian Chemical Workers’ Union (Belchimprofsoyuz). Amazingly, he left the Service in July and already in November he became the leader of a major union organization.

Talking to “Salidarnast”, a former union officer in one of the FPB structures pointed out that people coming to work in the FPB did not know thing one about the Labour Code because the Code had never been applicable in their former positions.

“The situation is simply absurd: a former Deputy Minister of Defense, a man whose position has never brought him within the sight distance of labour relations and who has zero experience in this area comes to lead a trade union.”

By the way, another former Deputy Minister of Defense, Siarhei Patapenka, is currently President of the Belarusian Governmental and Other Institutions Workers’ Union.

“With this kind of a “union leader” in place, the authorities are safe from any suprises by default”

Pro-Government appointees in the Belarusian trade unions first appeared in early 2000s. After the 2001 presidential elections where the main alternative to Aliaksandr Lukashenka was the FPB leader Uladzimir Hancharyk as the single candidate from the opposition, the authorities became seriously concerned with the influence that the Federation and its affiliates had on the political situation in the country.

Lukashenka never forgave the unions for their involvement in politics and their claim on power. The FPB tried to defuse the situation by changing the leader, replacing Uladzimir Hancharyk with his deputy Frantz Vitko.

However, Lukashenka did not find the new Chair of the Federation loyal enough. So, Vitko did not stay in that position for long; already in 2002, the FPB was headed by a one-hundred per cent reliable “man of ours” – the former Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Leanid Kozyk.

Naturally, the authorities proceeded with putting the “right people” in place at all levels of the FPB. And, as a result, before the presidential elections in 2010, Kozyk, on behalf of the unions, supported Lukashenka and announced that the FPB was ready to start collecting signatures to support his nomination for President.

Mikhail Orda who replaced Leanid Kozyk in 2014 pursued the political line of his predecessor, becoming the head of Lukashenka’s pre-election action group supporting Lukashenka throughout the election campaign. On July 5, 2020, the FPB led by Orda officially supported the nomination of the all-time ruler for yet another term of office.

According to a report prepared by the Polish Freedom and Democracy Foundation, Mikhail Orda took part in the falsification of parliamentary and presidential elections and collaborated with the State Security Committee (KGB) on issues of political repressions.

In November 2020, the then Chairman of the FPB was included in the sanctions lists of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia (starting from 2011 – after the 2010 presidential elections – he is on the EU sanctions list for his involvement in alleged frauds and human rights violations).

Of course, Orda was the authorities’ appointee too, having an impressive list of high-ranking posts and positions under his belt. Here are just some of those: First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Belarusian National Youth Union, Presidential Envoy to the Hrodna Region, Head of the Delegation of the Standing Committee of the Union State in Minsk, a member of the House of Representatives, and a member of the Council of the Republic.

The authorities could not really do any better than that; any unpleasant “surprises” for powers that be coming from that quarter were quite unthinkable.

Nevertheless, even after appointing Leanid Kozyk the Head of the FPB, the authorities decided to further shore up their position in legislative terms. In 2003, the Presidential Decree No. 644 “On approving the HR register of the Head of State of the Republic of Belarus” was amended to include the position of the FPB Chairperson in the register – the only top position of an NGO in the list.

The meaning of this status becomes clear once you read Article 11 of the RB Law “On Civil Service”. We shall not bore you with long quotes in the bureaucratic lingo, we shall give you just one: “The Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus exercises coordination and control of the governmental bodies’ activities in terms of keeping their HR registers”.

“As the Soviet-time propagandists would put it, they chant, united in an overwhelming festive drive, “our victory, our President” and wave their little flags.”

In April 2024, the position of the FPB Chair was given to Yuri Senko, a graduate of the Public Administration Academy under the auspicies of the President of the Republic of Belarus and the former Chair of the State Customs Committee.

On the day he came into office he declared: “The important task for our worker, a trade union member who works in production, is not to concern himself with things like knowing the basics of the labour, or civil, or administrative legislation – he must, above all, fulfill his employment obligations. The task of protecting his interests is a job for the trade unions.”

Actually, it is difficult to imagine the current Belarusian authorities and the official unions built into their structures and ideological work calling on people to enhance their legal literacy, but to hear them say it so blatantly “do not think, just do your work, all else is none of your concern” is a bit too much even for them, no?

Moreover, the task of “not concerning oneself” is defined as the important one, which is understandable: if a person ignores this “instruction”, they may start asking questions. And what if they take the next step and start making demands about something that goes beyond trade union “concerns”? Of course, there are proven ways of dealing with such workers but don’t let them say they haven’t been warned.

In October 2024, ahead of the “presidential elections”, the current Chairman of the FPB, walking in the footsteps of his predecessors, led an activist group collecting voters’ signatures to support the nomination of Lukashenka and later on became the head of Lukashenka’s election campaign headquarters.

However, that turned out to be not enough for an “independent” NGO. In late January 2025, after the “elections”, the participants of the 10th FPB Congrees joined a flash mob: during a 6-second video they were, as the Soviet-time propagandists would put it, chanting, united in an overwhelming festive drive, “our victory, our President” and waving their little flags.

Yet, there is no limit to sycophantic perfection. Already during Mikhail Orda’s chairmanship at the FPB, the orgnazation’s leadership started the tradition of signing the “union leader’s oath of allegiance” which continues to this day.

The set of pompos verbs – serve faithfully, observe sacredly, dedicate oneself unreservedly, revere, augment, and reinforce – is painfully reminiscent of the Soviet-time ideological texts whose meaning would disappear as you were reading them. And what if one does serve but not faithfully, observe but not sacredly, dedicate himself but not unreservedly? What then? A reprimand in their personal file for breaking the oath?

All this would be funny, were it not so sad: a hollow and senseless formality is presented as something momentous for the activities of today’s FPB leadership.

No place here for those who do not belong

Today, HR “filters” are in place throughout the FPB structure: only those who have proven themselves, the loyal and reliable are in the leadership business. For instance, the deputy Head of the Federation Vadim Gratchev is a graduate of the Civil Service Institute of the Public Administration Academy under the auspicies of the RB President, another deputy Valentina Akudovich also was a student of the Academy.

And the system works in both directions. In April 2025, according to official reports, the FPB Deputy Chairman Aliaksandr Schekovych was “agreed” for the position of the Head of Administration of the Soviet District in Minsk.

Let us go a couple of steps down the current hierarchy of the Federation and take a look at who has been “agreed” there:

The Chairman of the Brest Regional Trade Union Association Leanid Martyniuk is a former Presidential aide.

The Chairman of the Vitsyebsk Regional Trade Union Association Yuri Derkach is a former head of the healthcare authority in the Vitsyebsk Regional Administration.

The Chairman of the Mahileu Regional Trade Union Association Vladimir Tsumareu is a former head of the Mahileu Municipal Administration.

The Chairman of the Minsk Municipal Trade Union Association Siarhei Shkrudneu is a former head of the Frunze Dictrict Administration in Minsk.

The Chairman of the Hrodna Regional Organisation of the Belorausian Chemical Workers’ Union Viacheslav Strochinsky is a former deputy head of the Internal Affairs Department of the Hrodna Regional Administration.

The President of the Commercial, Consumer Cooperative, and Entrepreneurial Workers’ Union of Belarus Oksana Contantinovich is a former Deputy Minister of Antitrust Regulation and Trade.

The President of the Belarusian Cultural, Information, Sports, and Tourism Workers’ Union Mikhail Portnoy is a former Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism.

This list could go on for quite a while, but it is already evident that today’s Trade Union Federation of Belarus is an organization whose HR motto is clear: there is no place here for those who do not belong. Because you have to be “one of ours”.

Victoria Leontieva

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