The Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor General’s Office have announced that they uncovered a large-scale corruption scheme spanning several sectors of the economy, including the agro-industrial and fuel and energy sectors, housing and utilities, construction, transport, education and others.
A total of 45 criminal cases involving bribery have been opened against 44 suspects. Many of them were detained while allegedly committing the crimes. With the prosecutor’s authorization, several suspects have been placed in pretrial detention. The suspects are between 31 and 65 years old.
According to the Interior Ministry, the suspects had, over several years, accepted bribes from participants in procurement tenders in exchange for selecting their companies as suppliers of construction materials, electrical equipment and spare parts. They also allegedly facilitated the acceptance of delivered goods without obstacles and ensured the timely payment for supplies. The total amount of bribes exceeded 750,000 Belarusian rubles.
“The scheme was organized by the founder of several commercial companies, who developed a mechanism for distributing illegal payments, including a special formula for calculating the amounts of the kickbacks. He was assisted in delivering the bribes by subordinates responsible for selecting counterparties and coordinating interactions with officials,” the Interior Ministry said.
According to the ministry, the suspects also include representatives of 12 agricultural enterprises who allegedly received 320,000 Belarusian rubles in bribes in connection with the supply of energy equipment.
During searches, investigators seized “black bookkeeping” documents containing information on the value of contracts and the kickbacks that had been paid.
The investigation is ongoing.
