Worse than Bragin. Seven “mortal” cities of Belarus

“Daily” compiled a rating of the most disadvantaged regions and found out in which areas of the country the most crimes are committed, where the most drugs and drinks are used, and where the mortality rate is highest.

Leader in mortality

The overall mortality rate in the country in recent years is 12.6 per 1000 population.

At the same time, the highest mortality rate throughout the republic has been observed for several years now. Vitebsk region(per 1000 population - 14.6). Minsk and Grodno regions are in second place (indicator - 14.0), the relevant information was published by Belstat based on the results of last year.

Breaks negative statistical records Vitebsk region and by the number of suicides, and this applies to both men and women. According to data for 2016, out of 100 thousand residents of the region, 49.1 men and 10.1 women committed suicide. Moreover, the number of suicides here has increased sharply compared to 2015 (men - 23.7 and women - 2.8 per 100 thousand people).

By the way, according to WHO criteria, Belarus is a country with a high suicide rate, which is considered to be 20 cases per 100 thousand population. Thus, last year, suicide caused the death of 2,042 people across the country (for comparison: in 2015 there were 1,717 such cases).

Where are there more drinkers and drug addicts?

But the incidence of drug addiction and substance abuse is highest in Minsk. According to the National Statistics Committee, in the capital this figure is 12.3 per 100 thousand people. If we do not take into account the capital, the sad leadership among the regions of Belarus remains Gomel region(9.2 per 100 thousand people). Mainly thanks to Svetlogorsk, a city where the number of drug addicts is one of the largest in the country.

Most diagnoses of alcoholism and alcoholic psychosis in Belarus were made in Minsk region(data for last year: 211.8 per 100 thousand people). According to Belstat, the fewest such problems were in the Gomel and Grodno regions (181.2 and 183.4 cases per 100 thousand people).

The most criminal

Regarding the crime situation, as official statistics show, over the past year the crime rate in the country as a whole has decreased compared to 2015. Thus, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, in 2016, 92.9 thousand crimes were registered in the republic, or 95.8% of the 2015 level. Per 100,000 people in 2016, 978 crimes were registered in the republic (in 2015 - 1,022 crimes).

Meanwhile, the most crimes per 100,000 inhabitants were registered last year in Minsk region(the crime rate there was 1203 cases per 100 thousand people). Next in terms of crime rate comes the Gomel region with an indicator of 1018, in third place is the Mogilev region (1015). As follows from the ranking, the lowest number of crimes per 100 thousand inhabitants in 2016 was registered in the Brest and Grodno regions (826 and 829, respectively).

Also Minsk region, according to statistics, the most unsafe region in terms of the number of deaths in road accidents. 176 people died on the roads here last year. The region also found itself in the “red zone” of the rating in terms of the number of road accidents - there were 880 of them in 2016.

In the 90s, Svetlogorsk became known as the “capital” of AIDS and drug addiction. The city earned its unflattering nickname in 1996, when it became clear that more than eight hundred HIV-infected drug addicts lived here. Since then, the situation cannot be said to have improved: as of September 1, 2016, 4,037 cases of HIV were registered in the Svetlogorsk region, which is a record for Belarus. A native of the city named Lyubov does not agree with the statistics: “I saw a couple of drug addicts and syringes on the streets only in the 90s. They say that the “old” drug addicts have already died. And, fortunately, I haven’t met any new ones. For me, Svetlogorsk is a city of youth and light. It is famous for energy workers, builders, and chemists. I love wandering through its streets, embankment, and central square. And I always come there with joy.”

Cover photo: VK group “Khoiniki”

According to the Trudbox website, in August there were 65 job offers in Svetlogorsk, more than half of which were for a salary of up to 100 rubles. The main area is trade, sales, purchasing. The industry is represented by 12 enterprises, of which two are city-forming enterprises - the pulp and cardboard mill and Khimvolokno. The first, however, is still operating at a loss (in the first quarter of 2016, “income” amounted to minus 103,060 million non-denominated rubles). But the second one retained a small profit (in the first quarter of 2016 it received 171 million non-denominated rubles). Svetlogorsk resident Pavel looks at the situation optimistically: “With work, as in any city in the country: it’s difficult to get a good one. I feel at home in Svetlogorsk.

Of course, there are many complaints about the entertainment sector, which is almost non-existent, but 5-6 years ago the situation was even worse. There are a couple of cafes, restaurants, and weak billiards. In sports, everything is fine: exercise equipment, gyms, swimming pools. By the way, there is no such thing as drinking in public places or shouting - this is quickly stopped.”

Waste-polluted Soligorsk, which is more overpopulated than New York

The richest region of Belarus, according to the electronic newspaper Daily, suffers from mining waste. The waste heaps, 120 meters high, have already become a local landmark: more than half a million tons of waste poison the environment. The fertile soil layer is contaminated with salts and heavy metals. But for the sake of fairness, it is worth noting that OJSC Belaruskali was the first in the country to introduce an environmental monitoring system and closely monitors compliance with the standards for maximum permissible emissions into the atmosphere. Another problem of Soligorsk is its high population density: more than 100 thousand residents live in an area of ​​less than 10 square kilometers, which is more than in New York. The result is a lack of personal space and littering.

Soligorsk resident Elena honestly spoke about the pros and cons of the city: “Everyone around is sure that only rich miners live in Soligorsk. In fact, only a small percentage of residents work in Belaruskali, and even less in the mine itself. Yes, the miners get paid decently, but believe me, it’s deserved. Their work is hellishly difficult. Along with high salaries, they also suffer from serious health problems. The rest of Soligorsk residents work, as in other cities: in factories, shops, schools and medical institutions. Enough of individual entrepreneurs. Judging by the growing number of hypermarkets, one can judge that the residents of Soligorsk have enough money.”

Soligorsk is not famous for its cultural attractions. Still, it is a very young and, above all, industrial city. The development is standard and rather monotonous, so tourists are usually taken either to the waste heaps or to the mine.

On the way, sometimes they also show a unique 200-year-old wooden church in the village of Chizhevichi, which is an architectural monument. Surprisingly, Soligorsk is ahead of Moscow and New York in terms of population density. This is due to the fact that the city has nowhere to grow: on one side there is a reservoir, on the other there is a forest, on the third there are part-time mines.

The houses stand one on top of the other, as the development densification program is in full swing. It has gotten to the point that they manage to build panels in school stadiums and in cramped courtyards in the old city.

True, in recent years a large new microdistrict has grown up in Soligorsk, but it too has hit a wall: the arable land of the neighboring collective farm. According to the latest laws in Belarus, fields can only be built with the consent of the president, which is why Soligorsk is frozen in anticipation of Lukashenko’s approval, and continues to build panels in stadiums and courtyards. The wealth and big advantage of Soligorsk is the presence of a huge forested area, which is closely adjacent to the city.

It is, of course, constantly littered due to lovers of drunken picnics in nature, but it is still beautiful and loved by the townspeople. The folk trail to “Springs”, where the entire city collects drinking water from a natural source, does not become overgrown. Bicycles are now on the wave of popularity among Soligorsk residents. In good weather, whole families go out for rides in the forest or on the roller ski track. By the way, construction of a new long bicycle path has recently begun.”

Bobruisk as a place where you can get a knife in the rib

The statistical collection of offenses in the Republic of Belarus for 2011-2014 approved the title of criminal for the Bobruisk region: in 2014, 1,755 crimes were committed there per 100 thousand people and 1,068 per 100 thousand in the city itself - a kind of record for Belarus. However, the city authorities do not agree with the bad reputation: in 2017, Bobruisk will become the cultural capital. The Forstadt district enjoys particular fame in the city - to quote the locals, it is “simply gangster, there were many groups, hooligans live, and generally dubious.” Once upon a time, these streets were inhabited by Old Believers; now they are home to colorful personalities, whose fathers in the 60s shot at their neighbors from their attics for fun.

One of the city’s attractions is a defensive structure of the first half of the 19th century. According to Bobruisk residents, it’s a wonderful place: “You walk in and there’s a homeless person sleeping or a drug addict in an overdose. They don't follow her.

It’s a shame; the city’s museums have been fighting for reconstruction for many years. But they don’t give money.” When asked whether it’s scary to live in the criminal capital of Belarus, a resident named Vyacheslav answers: “I can’t speak for people, everyone is paranoid at their own level, but I’m not afraid to walk around the city. People, of course, lock their doors. As for work here, it’s a different story: as in all cities, if you want to earn money, then it’s better not to get a stable job at all, where the salary is steadily falling down. There are places to have fun (restaurants, parks), but everything gets boring quickly, the city is small. In this city, as well as in this country, there is nothing to do for those who want to live well, have fun and, even more so, earn money.”

No less criminal Baranovichi as a competitor to Bobruisk

The criminal capital can compete with Baranovichi, a city where there are problems with drugs, crimes against minors and thefts. In 2014, Baranovichi was noted on the criminal map of Belarus as a place where there were 804 registered crimes per 100 thousand inhabitants (1,231 per 100 thousand inhabitants of the Baranovichi region). A native of Baranovichi, Alexander did not hide the current state of affairs: “Once upon a time it was very sad, they went from district to district. Within the city there is a pre-trial detention center No. 6. Nearby “Kresty” is a district of gopniks and all sorts of cattle. When I was studying, it was relatively calm, except that at the beginning of the 2000s, some guy’s nose was broken (he was showing off in the wrong area).

Since now many people of Caucasian nationality come to enroll in the local university, they don’t always want to be in the center. The last big fight was a couple of years ago - someone had a conflict with a Caucasian man over a girl. And so – everything is as usual, there are still small areas like “Crosses”, “Chinese Wall” (the longest house on Telman Street - approx. KYKY) and the like, but on a much smaller scale. But there are good things: interesting churches with frescoes, new shopping centers are being built, areas are becoming more and more populated. There is an ice palace, two cinemas - the modern Zvezda and the old Oktyabr. There are small statues in the center, the same owl in a hollow near the bookstores. In recent years, the aircraft repair plant has begun to return to its former attractiveness in terms of jobs. The Railway Museum is about 10 years old, but it can be interesting to go see it. For those who like to relax there are several disco clubs. An ordinary city, which relatively recently changed its mayor and seems to be getting better.”

Bragin as the radioactive capital of Belarus

Elevated levels of MD gamma radiation were recorded in two Belarusian cities - Bragin and Slavgorod, but only one of them was recognized as an unofficial “radioactive capital”. Perhaps the reason is the memorial on the main square of Bragin: there is a sign of radioactivity, an alley of resettled villages in the region and a monument to Vasily Ignatenko, who died while extinguishing a fire at the 4th power unit.

Even during the day, the streets are empty - as of January 1, 2016, 3,750 people live in the urban village. The places are beautiful, but it’s better not to go into the surrounding forests: there are radiation hazard signs at the entrance. But watching is not prohibited. A native of Bragin, Vladislav has lived here all his life: “Young people stay in Bragin after finishing school; locals mainly work in the field of education. The salary is average, practically not enough to live on. You can’t pick mushrooms and berries in the forests, but in general we are used to radiation. For entertainment, there are sports sections for those who want them, but mostly, of course, bars. From culture... Well, for a small town there is enough: monuments to the world wars, the Chernobyl disaster, exhibitions in the museum... But who among the young people needs this history? In general, there are better cities, and there are worse ones. Bragin is something in between.”

Khoiniki as a symbol of unsuccessful placement for Belarusian students

Everyone who studied at the budget department of a Belarusian university still sees placement scenes in their nightmares: “If you don’t find a job before your diploma, you’ll go to Khoiniki.” As of January 1, 2016, 12,797 people lived in Khoiniki, and about 40 young professionals join them annually. There are at least 14 industrial and agricultural enterprises in the region. There is a standard set from the cultural center, where concerts and discos are held, and a cinema. And perhaps also the Belkoopsoyuz cafe. All.

City resident Olga herself was a young specialist three years ago: “I’ve heard a lot about the fact that graduates are scared by Khoiniki. A friend of mine studied at the Maxim Tank University, and then one day during a lecture on a stream, the teacher, moving a little away from the topic, said, you know, what’s the worst thing about studying here? This is distribution in Khoiniki! My friend, not a timid girl, asked the question: “Why?” The teacher was embarrassed and did not give a clear answer. It’s sad, but these very rumors are made up by our mentors. But the problem in Khoiniki is actually one thing - our “colleagues” who are afraid of young ambitious young specialists full of strength and new ideas, who do not pass on their work experience, and in some cases they can “set us up”, who are afraid for their homes. Today people are different, cruel... There are no longer those kind and sympathetic people who are ready to come to the aid of a comrade.”

David-Haradok: last place in the quality of life ranking

When the Academy of Sciences of Belarus compiled a rating of cities by quality of life (the criteria were population growth rate, migration growth, average monthly salary, share of the economically active population, environmental situation and transport accessibility), the last 134th place was taken by David-Haradok. This settlement with a population of just over six thousand people is famous for its theatrical procession in honor of the pagan holiday “Koniki”.

And also provincial boredom. Work here can be found in the service sector, trade, or at an electromechanical and bakery plant (“The ones who remain at the plant are not very smart—there is little future,” locals comment). Residents are dissatisfied with their salaries, and young people don’t stick around much: in 2015, the natural population decline was -6 per 1,000 residents. On the city’s portal you can find an interesting rating where site visitors rate life in David-Gorodok. Things are best with landscapes (88 points), worst of all with nightlife (28.6).

In mid-September, news spread around the Bynet about the creation of the first criminal map of the city of Minsk, with which you can track the number of offenses registered in each residential building. The map includes crimes committed on the territory of Minsk since January 1, 2010

It is reported that the warmer (darker) the color on the map, the more dangerous the area. The most alarming places are highlighted in red, the safest are colorless or light purple.

If you look at the map from this position, the most crime-prone areas in Minsk can be considered the microdistricts adjacent to the intersection of Pritytskogo Street and Pushkin Avenue. Since the beginning of 2010, 464 crimes have been registered here.

The second largest cluster of criminal activity is in Malinovka and South-West - 336 crimes have been registered here over the past 5 years. In the areas adjacent to the intersection of Surganov and Bogdanovich streets, according to the crime map, 333 criminal acts were committed, and this is the third place.

As for Shabanov, Angarskaya and Chizhovka, which will certainly become the leaders of any popular TOP of the most restless districts of the city, their indicators look rather mediocre against the general background.

A little history: The first creator of the crime map is , who for a long time kept the crime database up-to-date and only recently stopped updating the information. Nevertheless, the work of the “Daily Book” was probably one of the main sources that the creators of the new “Criminal Map” actively used.

We do not belittle the merits of the developers, who spent a lot of time and effort to collect all the data, but we believe that the announced conclusions, replicated by many media, are not always correct.

“If you see that there were 5 thefts and 2 robberies in the house, then in our opinion, this apartment is not worth buying or renting,” - write the map developers . But what if we are talking about a building with several hundred apartments and a thousand inhabitants - a typical “Chinese wall” characteristic of Soviet buildings? In this case, is 5 thefts in 5 years a lot or a little? The same can be said for larger geographic units. How can we judge the relative crime rate of an area if we don't know how many people live there?

It is not surprising that the areas with the highest density of residents turned out to be the most crime-prone. At the same time, the map “whitens” the reputation of the factory outskirts of the city, which have always enjoyed a bad reputation among Minsk residents. The statistics of crimes committed per capita testify much more objectively about the danger of a region - it is this indicator that gives an idea of ​​the real risks to which residents of a particular district of the capital are exposed.

In order not to be unfounded, we used the indicated number of crimes and improved the analysis by dividing the city into microdistricts and correlating the data with the number of residents living there. Unfortunately, there are no official statistics on the population of Minsk microdistricts, but we know the number of apartments in each residential building in the capital, which allows us to assume how many people can live there. This is not a perfect calculation, but the error is small.

As a result of our research, we received a more objective picture of the risks that Minsk residents expose themselves to when choosing an apartment in a particular area. The palm returned to Shabany and the entire Zavodskoy district. Also in the “red zone” are Drazhnya, Kuntsevshchina, Umanskaya and Stepyanka. The leaders were the area of ​​the railway station and the Institute of Culture metro station, which is probably due to the daily flow of visitors.

Is there a relationship between and the crime situation in the area?

There is no clear answer to this question. As a rule, in the cheapest areas the crime rate is higher, and as the price increases, it decreases. This trend can be traced until the average city price level is reached, after which the dependence becomes unobvious.

The crime rate is higher in areas whose housing stock consists mainly of Khrushchev-era buildings and houses built in the 70s-90s.

Almost all young areas that did not manage to become a favorite place for hooligans turned out to be “pockets of calm.” With relatively low housing prices, their crime rates are below the city average. Among the administrative districts of Minsk, the calmest situation is in Central and Sovetsky.

In the first position, I myself was inclined to think that it was more likely “yes,” and in the second, that it was more likely “no,” but in both cases I did not have a ready-made answer.

Belstat annually publishes annual crime statistics - total and per capita with maps like this, 2014 as an example:

(These reports and maps have two drawbacks. Firstly, one year is a rather short period of time. You can get an idea, but the picture will be more reliable if you take several years. Secondly, there is one mistake in the calculation methodology. There are ten cities regional subordination and Minsk, for which statistics are kept separately from their districts - in accordance with the administrative-territorial division of the Republic. And for these eleven districts, crime rates are significantly higher than for neighboring ones. In the Grodno region, the highest crime rate is in the Grodno district. in the Vitebsk region - in the Vitebsk region, in the Bobruisk region it is generally off the charts - more than 11,000 crimes per 100,000 people over 5 years, etc.. At the same time, in the cities themselves - Grodno, Vitebsk, Bobruisk, etc. - crime rates are again below. Here’s the thing: city life is not confined to the city. Some crimes are committed by citizens within the district and vice versa, but the population of the city is usually an order of magnitude larger than the district. Therefore, when the count is per capita, such an “exchange” is not particularly reflected in city statistics, but it distorts the statistics of the region. It turns out that the calculation method is incorrect - crimes committed by both district and, to some extent, city residents are counted per capita of the district population only. To avoid this inaccuracy, it is better to count cities and their districts together).

Therefore, starting from the same Belstat data http://belstat.gov.by/bgd/public_compilation/index_628/, I summed up 5 years (2010-2014) and made a new map, separately recalculating and combining data for 11 cities (cities of regional subordination and Minsk) and the districts in which the corresponding cities are located (the sum of the number of crimes in the city and in the district is divided by the sum of the population of the city and district and multiplied by 100,000 people). Here's what happened:

Returning to the questions posed at the beginning of the post,

1) - no.
We see on the map a clear division between western and eastern Belarus. This border does not coincide with the confessional one. The region with a high or noticeable share of Catholics is not the west, but the north-west:


If we compare data for the Grodno region with a share of Catholics of 60% and data for the Brest region with a share of Catholics of 3%, we get the same picture of crimes per 100,000 people: 4,897 in the Grodno region versus 4,698 in the Brest region (formally, the situation in the Brest region is even a little better).

2) - no.
Here is the Ponizovye region indicated by a white border:


When compared with western Belarus, the statistics are worse. But compared to other parts of eastern Belarus, there is no decline. At the same time, it is still possible to single out a failed region - the eastern half of the Minsk region and the western half of the Mogilev region.

And regarding the main pattern - why is there such a sharp border between eastern and western Belarus if it does not correspond to the confessional border? I see here the residual border of Western Belarus as part of Poland and the BSSR as part of the USSR until 1939:


Apparently, after all, the question of whether three or two generations of ancestors lived under the rule of the Soviets matters.

Belarus turned out to have the second highest crime rate after Russia among the CIS countries. Tomorrow of Your Country finds out which Belarusian region has the most cases of crime and where the most law-abiding citizens live.

According to the National Statistical Committee, in 2011, 1,394 crimes were registered in Belarus per 100 thousand people (139 per 10 thousand). But in some regions of the country, crime rates are significantly higher than average.

More than 300 crimes per 10 thousand population were recorded last year in the Bobruisk region - it leads in crime rates. The number of crimes has been increasing here for the third year in a row. By the way, in Bobruisk itself the crime rate is half as low - 145 cases per 10 thousand population.

Of the regional cities, Mogilev is the calmest - 99 cases per 10 thousand people. In Gomel in 2011, 101 crimes were registered per 10 thousand people, in Brest - 107, in Grodno - 111. The most crime-prone large city after Minsk (172) is Vitebsk (140).

In the Vitebsk region there is also the second highest crime rate in Belarus - Orsha. Here the number of crimes was 269 per 10 thousand people, and in 2011 the highest crime rate since 2007 was recorded.

In the Vitebsk region there is another district that has exceeded the mark of 200 crimes per 10 thousand people - Vitebsk (202). In the Mogilev region, Osipovichsky (202), Mogilevsky (211), Glussky (212) were above this level. But the most such districts are in the Minsk region: Smolevichisky (222), Pukhovichsky (227), Logoisky (213) and Berezinsky (242).

In the Brest region, the highest figure is in the Brest district (165), in the Gomel region - in the Kormyansky district (187), in the Grodno region - in the Grodno district (133).

Top 5 most criminal regions of Belarus (cases per 10 thousand population)

Bobruisk district (Mogilev region) - 303

Orsha (Vitebsk region) - 269

Berezinsky (Minsk region) - 242

Pukhovichsky (Minsk region) - 227

Smolevichisky (Minsk region) - 222

And the calmest region of Belarus is the Brest region with a total indicator of 108 crimes per 10 thousand population. The most law-abiding district of Belarus is also located here - Ivanovsky, with an indicator of 71 registered crimes per 10 thousand people.

Top 5 most law-abiding regions of Belarus (cases per 10 thousand population)

Ivanovsky (Brest region) - 71

Oshmyansky (Grodno region) - 73

Braslavsky (Vitebsk region) - 76

Voronovsky (Grodno region) - 76

Novogrudok (Grodno region) - 77

Number of crime cases per 10 thousand people by districts and cities of regional subordination in 2011

Data from the National Statistics Committee

Help "Tomorrow of your country"

Russia took first place in the CIS in terms of crime rate in 2011 (1,682 cases of crime per 100 thousand population). Following Belarus, which has second place, are Kazakhstan (1249) and Ukraine (1138).

However, in Belarus, as in Russia, the crime rate in recent years has tended to decrease, while in Kazakhstan and Ukraine the trend is the opposite.

Lowest crime rate in Tajikistan.

Data from the National Statistics Committee