What benefits will Gomel residents lose due to the city's withdrawal from the Chernobyl zone

Gomel has been excluded from the list of settlements located in radioactive contamination zones. The corresponding resolution of the Belarusian government was signed by Prime Minister Alexander Turchin, the Council of Ministers announced on August 3.

After updating the list of settlements and facilities located in radioactive contamination zones, "clean" areas, in addition to Gomel, now also include Lelchitsy, Luninets, Iuye, and 173 other settlements.

The Council of Ministers decided that more than 566 thousand people will now live outside the contaminated zone.

After the update, 1845 settlements (-177) with 364.2 thousand people (-566.4) and 33 facilities (-16) remained in the radioactive contamination zones.

In April 2025, Alexander Lukashenka asked:

"What were we doing for 30 years if 900 thousand people live in contaminated territories? (…) Why are you still quoting figures from 40 years ago? We need to bring things (no matter how popular or unpopular it may be) into conformity [with reality]."

This may imply that the government was preparing the resolution at Lukashenka's request. However, this is not directly stated.

The published official information states that an analysis of the results of work conducted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Health in 2021-2025 to survey contaminated territories, including soil sampling and assessment of dose loads on the population, showed "a significant improvement in the situation in certain settlements in territories contaminated with radionuclides."

It is noted that, in agreement with Lukashenka, the resolution is expected to come into force on January 1, 2027, and benefits for free meals will be maintained until June 2027 for minor children residing in and/or studying at educational institutions located in territories being reclassified from contaminated.

Thus, school meals will be free for Gomel residents for another academic year. However, nothing is said about the other "Chernobyl" benefits in the government's information. This means that these benefits will cease to be valid as early as January 1, 2027, after the resolution comes into force.

What other losses are most noticeable for Gomel residents, besides free school meals and a 50% discount on meals in kindergartens?

These include preferential sanatorium-resort treatment, priority provision of dormitory places for students from Gomel, and preferential right of admission to educational institutions.

Also, pregnant women will no longer be entitled to maternity leave starting from the 27th week, lasting 146 calendar days. General legislative rules will apply to them.

New certificates for victims of the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe, based on residence in Gomel, will no longer be issued. But before January 1, it is probably still possible to obtain a Chernobyl certificate.

• 0
• 0
• 1
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 3
• 0