FIAT-IFTA FOCUS ON BELARUS

Belarus | Europe | April 17, 2021

Prospects of the Funeral Sector in Belarus Today

Funeral traditions in Belarus are to the great extent similar to those in the Ukraine, Russia, and other former USSR republics. There are two dominant confessions in Belarus: Orthodox Christians and Catholics. Meanwhile the funeral rituals are approximately the same for all the locals, and funerary behavior has much in common.

Since those old Soviet times state-owned funeral organizations are regarded as the cheapest and most reliable. This image is encrypted on the cellular level of the whole nation. Day by day the current situation changes but still many people are convinced that the governmental services are the best of its kind. For that reason, a great deal of customers addresses state-owned enterprises searching for advantage. Meanwhile there is a list of decent funeral offices that provide adequate scope of related services. Sometimes newcomers try to enter the established market, but only the strongest survive.

Church matters
Normally the relatives of the deceased person arrange a priest to perform routine rituals. This is a common route even for irreligious people. Whatever the confession, Belarusian citizens often choose the Christian option in terms of funeral procedures. This is in the nature of things. Catholics prevail in western regions of Belarus. This is the second major confession in the country. In the flow of the recent events the Christian community has been involved into the ongoing political events. Sad but true, the Catholic Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz resigned shortly after the official feedback given to the frightening events of the electoral crisis. Nowadays the confessions in Belarus are ping-pong split in the context of politics.
Government issues
Funeral business in Belarus is not a piece of cake. The big fishes are state-owned funeral organisations. The rest share is for qualified private businesses. There are a number of sophisticated companies involved in the funeral business, but still the relatives of deceased people are somewhat dedicated to the known brands. Intuitively they are addicted to the compulsory option. Sometimes newcomers of the funeral sector show low quality service at the low cost. Finally customers choose the best providers. Outsiders vanish sooner or later. After a short introduction period such companies usually quit the business because the competitiveness rate is extremely high.

Conclusion
The funeral market in Belarus is mainly maintained by the state-owned or sheltered companies. There is also a certain quantity of independent private companies that provide funeral services. With every passing year the people get more and more informed about the current state of things. Sooner or later they will realize that the service forced by the governmental companies is not the only unique standard. Therefore, the prospection looks more or less positive at the moment.
The article has been arranged by Alexander Zhigalko, FIAT-IFTA Member
Ritual-Transport International https://ritual-transport.by

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