The first deputy chairman — head of the agriculture and food department in one of the district executive committees in the Vitsyebsk region has been accused of abuse of power resulting in serious consequences. A criminal case against him was opened on March 31, 2026, the Interior Ministry newspaper “Na Strazhe” writes.
In July 2023, the head of a farming enterprise approached the Vitsyebsk regional executive committee with a request to find third-party collateral in order to obtain a bank loan.
The document was forwarded for consideration, including to the district’s chief agriculture official. He issued written recommendations to the heads of local agricultural enterprises asking them to provide assistance. Even before the organisations’ consent had been obtained, the district executive committee sent a letter to the regional authorities, signed by the first deputy chairman, stating that collateral for the farm (two tractors and a combine harvester) had been provided.
As a result, in 2023–2024 the farm received several loans from Belagroprombank totalling more than 2.3 million roubles. By the end of 2025, the farm had fallen into debt, with overdue loan payments exceeding 500,000 roubles. The bank went to court to recover the funds. Nearly half a million roubles were sought from one farm and more than 40,000 from another. The value of the pledged assets covered the bank’s losses.
In January 2026, the court placed under arrest the pledged property — two tractors worth nearly 870,000 roubles and a combine harvester valued at more than 360,000 roubles.
The organised crime unit of the Interior Ministry conducted an inspection and uncovered another violation. The state representative in both affected farms had not authorised the collateral and had not signed the relevant documents. The decision to pledge the assets was taken personally by the first deputy chairman of the district executive committee.
A criminal case has been opened against the official. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
