Staying alive
“It’s a ‘school for cater-cousins’ where the grandson of Viktar Sheiman [a long-time associate of Aleksandr Lukashenko] studies, so it was allowed to continue operating”, an education system source told a Buro reporter.
In the autumn of 2022, the authorities capitalised on the Smart School shooting incident to conduct a comprehensive sweep of private education. In a meeting with Aliaksandr Valfovich, the head of the Security Council, Aleksandr Lukashenko referred to private education as an “anti-state cesspit” and ordered a “comprehensive overhaul of the education system”. Belarus has introduced compulsory licensing of educational activities.
Following the sweep, only six schools out of the original 35 were granted a licence to operate: Konkord, Eko-El, Alternativa, Ichthys, Minsk International Gymnasium and Eliseevy Polya. Minsk International Gymnasium (MIG) was founded by Iryna Abelskaya, Mikalai Lukashenko’s mother. The rationale behind the decision to leave the other five institutions on the market is less transparent. We decided to look into it.
Buro has conducted a study of the six private schools and is excited to share its findings with readers. You will also learn which educational institutions are attended by the grandchildren of Lukashenko's political associates. The story of a private institution that became part of the state system for a time during the licensing process. Another private school employed an official from the Ministry of Education who was responsible for overseeing the licensing of these schools. The Buro journalists discovered connections between private schools in Belarus and major businesses, influential figures in the government, and supporters of the current regime.
MAHILOU GAMBIT
We will commence our account from the city of Mahilou. Here, the private school Konkord last received its education licence in April 2023. This school with a flight-related name was founded in 2021 by Yauhen Baskin, a major businessman and chairman of the board of Servoluks.
Sometime in 2019, the businessman came up with the idea of building a private educational institution virtually on the same street as his house. The plan was to transfer 0.42 hectares of land from the Mahilou Regional Centre for Correctional and Developmental Education and Rehabilitation for development. In return, the developer had to relocate the centre’s playground, install two shaded shelters and build a recreation area.
“The Konkord School was designed and built from the ground up under an investment agreement. The land plot granted to ZAO Servoluks Agro was originally on the list of land plots to be granted to investors for the construction of social facilities stipulated in the investment agreements”, the school’s lawyer told the Buro, explaining the circumstances surrounding the allocation of the land plot for construction.
On 1 September 2021, Konkord opened its doors with a capacity of 88 students. The head of Mahilou, Uladzimir Tsumarau, and the head of the Leninski District Administration of Mahilou, Aliaksei Bahaichuk, attended the opening ceremony.
From left to right: businessman Yauhen Baskin, Konkord director Yulia Bahavets, Mahilou head Uladzimir Tsumarau and head of the Leninski District Administration Aliaksei Bahaichuk at the opening of the Konkord school. Source: vestnikmogileva.by
Our source from the education sector has informed us that this is a unique occurrence, with representatives of the authorities present at the opening of a private school.
It was 2022, and a massive sweep had affected Konkord as well. But as other private schools closed, Yauhen Baskin’s pet project was taken under the wing of Mahilou’s Secondary School No. 12, becoming its second building. Information on this can be found in the tenders. Just look, in October 2022, School No. 12 used public money to purchase catering services for the students of its second building at 76 Surhanava Street. This is the address at which the brand-new Konkord building is located. Meals for 36 students were purchased at public expense.
In January 2023, School No. 12 again used public funds to purchase services for “maintenance of the automatic fire alarm and warning system” for Building No. 2. The school itself has made no secret of the fact that it has merged with School No. 12 on its Instagram page.
The school operated as part of the state education system until the owners of Konkord sorted out the paperwork. They received their educational license in April 2023. By the autumn, the school was back on its feet independently. Today, 85 students are enrolled there, and parents cough up $5,250 a year.
We called the Konkord school, posing as potential clients. We asked them how they came to be under the state’s wing in 2022 and where they are now. The Konkord principal stated that they were compelled to take this action “during the policy-making phase of the state’s relationship with private schools”.
“We needed to keep our base. And that’s how we merged with School No. 12. We’ve been an independent, private institution since we were licensed and accredited – two rather complicated processes [laughs]”.
The education sector representatives we consulted confirmed that this scheme is feasible, provided there are administrative resources or connections.
Konkord private school in Mahilou. Source: MOGILEV Live Vkontakte group
We requested further clarification from Yauhen Baskin, who referred us to the Konkord lawyer. The latter prepared responses to our queries.
“To ensure the continuity of the educational process and to retain a highly professional teaching staff, it was decided, together with the Education Department of the Mahilou City Executive Committee, to transfer the teachers and students to Mahilou Secondary School No. 12, which was within walking distance and not complete at the time. To facilitate the continued educational process on the Konkord school premises and infrastructure, all its property was transferred to Mahilou Secondary School No. 12 based on a contract for free use”.
It turns out that Yauhen Baskin negotiated with the local authorities to save his school from closure and quickly handed over the building to the local public school, moving teachers and students there while Konkord was busy obtaining all the necessary permits to operate. And when he had everything he needed, he took his students and the school back under his control.
The Konkord school lawyer noted that “during the period of the free use agreement, the founder of the Konkord school independently paid all the costs of its upkeep, including utilities and maintenance. Considering the need for additional funding for Mahilou Secondary School No. 12 due to the increase in the number of teachers and students, the founder directed significant funds during this period to provide free sponsorship to this educational institution”. We requested information from the school’s lawyer regarding the reimbursement of funds spent by the public school on the needs of Building No. 2 through state procurement by the owner of Konkord. However, the lawyer was unable to provide an answer.
The Mahiliou Regional Executive Committee said that the Konkord school had obtained a licence in due course and referred to the Mahiliou City Executive Committee for details. The representative of the latter agency refused to provide further information by phone regarding the specifics of the transfer of private school teachers and students under the guidance of a public school during the licensing procedure. Could that option be offered to other private schools in Belarus?
“Some people were told outright: ‘If you keep looking for ways to stay in the game, you will end up in prison’. Even more so, some had to leave because they were trying to find a way to work around this. The reality is that the law does not apply to everyone equally”, states an expert from the education sector.
“If we were able to operate within the public school system, we would do so. However, not everyone is permitted to do that”, according to another source from the education sector.
Thus, in challenging times, the local authorities and Mahilou Secondary School No. 12 provided a reliable support structure for Konkord. The ideological component of the private school was affected by the introduction of military-patriotic classes customary for School No. 12. Its students participate in the Union State civic-patriotic cadet programme “For the Honour of the Fatherland”, which includes shooting automatic rifles at the firing range and attending grappling classes. Upon the state education facility assuming control of Konkord, the private school’s social media accounts began publishing posts confirming the transfer. The military was present at school events, and military-patriotic classes appeared on their schedule.
The students of the military-patriotic classes of Mahilou Secondary School no. 12 receive their military uniform certificates. Source: Konkord School’s Instagram account @concord.school
The Future Warrior Camp was held in the summer of 2023 on the grounds of the 188th Guards Engineer Brigade. The 2023 graduation was also attended by representatives of this military brigade.
ELITE SCHOOL
Another school, one of the few to receive a licence, is the Eko-El school in Zhdanovichy. The title stands for “Personal Ecology,” but we would prefer to refer to it as “Elitist Ecology”. Here is why.
This private school, with over two decades of experience, is regarded as one of the oldest in Belarus. It was founded and first directed by Tamara Artsemieva, who later handed over the reins to her daughter Tatsiana Maslava. As time went by, the founders built a new building for the school in Zhdanovichy.
Eko-El Private School. Source: Eko-El School’s Instagram account @_eco_el_
According to open sources and our educational informants, Eko-El has a reputation as a school for “elite” children. It is almost impossible to enrol in it – priority is given to “cater-cousins”. Even before the private schools were purged, Tatsiana Maslava claimed in a comment on Onliner in 2022 that they were “doing well” and that “this year all the student spaces are taken”.
We called Eko-El pretending to be a parent trying to get a child into the school, but we were told there was no way to get in, “the waiting list is long”. They refused to even put a child at the back of the line.
Like everyone else, Eko-El has had its fair share of “licensing”. But as of 8 November 2022, they have orderly resumed operations. Even though the school had no accreditation or license. How come?
“It’s a ‘school for cater-cousins’ where the grandson of Viktar Sheiman studies, so it was allowed to continue operating”, an education system source told the Buro reporter.
Indeed, we found confirmation of this – a photo of Aliaksandr Sheiman, son of Siarhei Sheiman and grandson of Viktar Sheiman, has been located on the social media accounts of the Eko-El school.
Aliaksandr Sheiman, grandson of Viktar Sheiman, is pictured at the Eko-El school. Source: Eko-El School’s Instagram account @_eco_el_
We also found a relative of another person from Aleksandr Lukashenko’s first political “stable” at this school. Maria Kanaplova is the granddaughter of one of Lukashenko’s closest associates, the head of the handball federation, Uladzimir Kanaplou.
Maria Kanaplova, the granddaughter of Uladzimir Kanaplou, is pictured at the Eko-El school. Source: Eko-El School’s Telegram page @Eco_El
As expected, the school had little trouble reopening with such students. We phoned the headmistress, Tatsiana Maslava, and asked her what or who had been able to get the school up and running again so quickly, but she refused to comment.
We researched other Eko-El customers and found more than just the grandchildren of Viktar Sheiman and Uladzimir Kanaplou. The list of students includes children of the manager of companies linked to Viktar Sheiman, former co-owner of the bankrupt Bigzz chain Alautsina Lukomskaya, shareholder and founder of A-100 group of companies Aliaksandr Tsenter, and one of the former top managers of BSB Bank Uladzimir Fiodarau.
And this is by no means a complete list. Eko-El appears to be a direct competitor of Minsk International Gymnasium, founded by Iryna Abelskaya. And the MIG seems to understand that perfectly well.
According to our source in the education sector, shortly after Eko-El was up and running again, parents of pupils began to receive “interesting phone calls”.
“Many parents of Eko-El students who worked in government departments – and they were quite a few – were strongly encouraged to leave Eko-El and enrol in the school ‘created for people like them’. Meaning the [Minsk] International Gymnasium. It was like, ‘We have everything in place for you here, and you choose some odd private individuals’”.
The company made 80 thousand Belarusian roubles in profit in 2023. The cost of tuition at Eko-El is now 600 euros a month. But only for those whom the school management deems worthy of studying with the children of the Belarusian elite.
SCRATCH MY BACK AND I WILL SCRATCH YOURS
Another private school that managed to open quickly after the “purge” was Alternativa. The school is run and owned by Volha Dzerkachova.
Like Eko-El, the private school Alternativa was able to resume operations as early as the beginning of the second quadmester. According to Volha Dzerkachova, the Ministry of Education gave specific requirements for obtaining the licence, including the presence of “BRSM members among the students and Belaya Rus party members among the teachers”. The latter, according to the headmaster, was joined by all the teachers.
Alternativa Private School. Source: onliner.by
But we found another link that could help the school cut through the red tape more quickly. The fact is that at the time of the “purge” the post of Director of the Quality Control Department of the Ministry of Education was held by Mikhail Mironchyk, who oversaw the licensing and accreditation of schools in the country. Coincidentally, he also had a long association with the Alternativa school.
Speaking to us, Volha Dzerkachova confirmed this, but said it was a long time ago, and mentioned that what really helped was the fact that the school had been accredited five times before it was licensed.
Mikhail Mironchyk, former head of the Quality Control Department of the Ministry of Education. In 2024, he was appointed a member of the National Assembly. Source: sputnik.by
We attempted to contact Mikhail Mironchyk, but his personal phone was unavailable. His wife declined to facilitate a connection and terminated the call. The Education Quality Control Department indicated that Mironchyk is no longer employed by the department, having become an MP.
There are currently no spaces available at Alternativa, but they are open to accepting children on a waiting list. One month’s tuition costs 1500 roubles. In 2023, the company earned one million roubles in net profit.
GOD WILLING
Another school that has been granted permission to operate is Ichthys, a private school run by St. Elisabeth Convent. With God’s help, or someone else’s, they were able to re-open as early as November 2022. Buro has already reported in detail on the St. Elisabeth Convent’s (SEC) business holding.
The fact that Ichthys is purely an “idea project” is something the school authorities make no secret of. The SEC fully shares the pro-Lukashenko policy and supports militarisation and the “Russian world” idea.
Ichthys Orthodox Private School. Source: obitel-minsk.ru
For example, in February 2024, there was a lesson involving weapons and military gear. It was held by representatives of the Minsk City Public Association “City Without Drugs” and the Military-Patriotic Centre “Cossack Spas” [rus. value system]. According to Nasha Niva, this centre organises military training camps for Belarusian children, inviting Russian instructors who took part in military operations. These were held in Belarus and included travelling to Russia.
Tuition at this school costs 1000 roubles per month. However, the children of devout parents and SEC parishioners are the first to be admitted to the school. Last year, the school made a profit of 108,000 roubles from its activities.
FEAST AT PUBLIC EXPENSE
Minsk International Gymnasium is another remaining private school founded by Mikalai Lukashenko’s mother and constructed by Mikhail Gutseriev, a friend of Aleksandr Lukashenko and an oligarch. Journalists have already covered this topic extensively, so we will focus on the key aspects of its work.
Minsk International Gymnasium stands out from other private schools due to its unique status as a partly state-funded institution from its inception. The school purchases a range of equipment and materials using public funds, including laptops, tablets, sound systems, printers, school meals for children, as well as educational materials and teaching aids.
Minsk International Gymnasium private school. Source: ustroi.by
In December 2023, the school, founded by Abelskaya, purchased ideological and educational literature for approximately 2,700 roubles. The books and posters included Genocide of the Belarusian People, Khatyn, For Your Friends. Heroes and Feats of Belarus, Sacred Memory of the Great Victory, and others.
Another July 2023 tender for the purchase of equipment for the English classroom is also worthy of note. It includes images of Big Ben, a stand with maps of Great Britain, Canada, the USA and Australia, and others. At that precise moment, Deputy Education Minister Aliaksandr Kadlubai expressed his disquiet at the discovery that, during inspections of educational establishments, the “British flag was observed to be displayed in a more prominent position than the Belarusian flag in the foreign language classroom. Once classes were intentionally arranged like that. There’s a double-decker bus, a British phone booth, an immersive environment and everything else. All necessary repositioning is taking place at the moment”.
In total, from 2020 to the end of 2023, Minsk International Gymnasium expended more than half a million rubles of budgetary funds on tenders alone. That said, the total amount of budget allocated to the gymnasium may be considerably greater.
“This illustrates the prevailing laws of business development in Belarus, is all. It is evident that those in positions of authority pay mere lip service to the principles of equality and other related matters, while simultaneously establishing an internal caste system that is not based on rights but rather on protectionism. But protectionism is not the same as the law, and sooner or later the backing will disappear”, says one education expert.
The gymnasium’s reports from 2020 to 2023 show that it received 6.6 million roubles in earmarked funding over four years. Of these, only 2.3 million roubles were “gratuitous aid or sponsorship”. The remaining funds are allocated to the “miscellaneous receipts” category and a total of 4.2 million rubles. The company concluded the 2023 fiscal year with a net profit of 257 thousand rubles.
A Buro journalist contacted MIG to request comment on the situation with financing purchases from the public purse. However, MIG declined to comment.
Despite the injection of funds by the state, one cannot say that the school is at full capacity. If a child has an academic grade average of 7 or higher and the parent is willing to pay 1,100 roubles a month, they may be eligible to attend a “family” school associated with the Lukashenko family. The question is whether one has that desire.
THE ELISEY FIELDS
The last private school we want to mention is Eliseevy Polya. It’s really just a nursery and primary school. The founder of the school, Alena Miashkova, was a teacher at another private school, Apelsin.
Alena Miashkova, the founder and owner of the Eliseevy Polya private school. Source: ladys.by
In an interview, Alena Miashkova stated that the initial funding for the kindergarten was provided by her family and her husband’s family:
“When the idea of creating a kindergarten was born, I had to be quite persuasive so that all the members of my family and my husband’s family got on board because it was thanks to our joint finances that it was possible to erect the building”.
Maksim Miashkou, according to his wife, plays an active role in the operations of the school and oversees the institution’s financial matters.
He spent several years working as Deputy Head of the Criminal Investigation Department in the Savetski District Police Department of Minsk before going into business. Until 2 November 2023, he held a 49% stake in the Russian company RES, which supplies a range of products, including rolled metal, acids, boilers, valves and more. In 2022, the company concluded the year with a net profit of 5.7 million euros.
Eliseevy Polya has been granted permits for operations on a par with Eko-El and Alternativa. But neither we nor our sources know how they earned the honours. The school’s director, Maryna Osipava, told our reporter that, like other institutions, they had simply collected and submitted the necessary bundle.
A source within the education sector suggested that Eliseevy Polya has been left on the market due to its reputation as an “extremely loyal school that has never tarnished itself in any way in the eyes of the state”.
When we contacted Eliseevy Polya on behalf of potential clients, we were informed that there are currently no student spaces available and will not be available shortly. The elementary school is complete and the waiting list is a block-long. Those clients of Eliseevy Polya who are already on the programme are required to pay 2,100 roubles per month. The elementary school operated in 2023 with a net profit of 292 thousand roubles.
“INSIDERS” LEFT BEHIND
So, after the “sweep” of private schools in Belarus, only a few have managed to survive. It is possible that these institutions were able to continue to exist because they had the right connections. However, only a fraction of the schools that are still in existence today are ready to accept new students.
In 2022, the Belarusian authorities determined that private schools are not a primary source of tax revenue for the budget purse or additional opportunities for citizens with children. Instead, they are viewed as a threat – and a poorly regulated one – as well as a breeding ground for anti-state ideas. But for their “cater-cousins”, they left several private schools. These are almost impossible to get into as an outsider.
“They seem to be keeping those schools for themselves. For the officials. For their insider consumption. Previously, private schools were attended by a select group of well-off, wealthy Belarusians. Currently, individuals who are closely aligned with the government are viewed as such. If they are in a position of authority or influence, whether official or otherwise, they see themselves as an elite. If they are the elite, there should be suitably matched elite schools for them”, said Sviatlana Matskevich, an education expert, in an interview with Buro.
Another expert in the field of education has stated that the private schools “sweep” in Belarus has hurt the quality of education in the country as a whole. The competitive environment in the education market has deteriorated considerably.
“Of course, [having private schools] is a good thing because, one, there is competition. While not as visible in education, private schools have long employed innovative methods that have become mainstream, rather than relying on the traditional class-and-lesson system following directions from above. But the most important thing is that parents could choose their child’s education approach instead of the school uniform. Choose and take responsibility for their child’s education so that they can compete in the global marketplace, not in the shards of the Soviet empire”, an education expert told Buro on condition of anonymity.