Изображене: МВД
Several high-ranking officials have been convicted on corruption charges in Belarus in recent years. This was stated at a press conference at the House of Press by Senior Prosecutor of the General Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime Volha Bakhar.
“The sectors most vulnerable to corruption are agriculture, industry, transport, construction, healthcare, and education. The total amount of damage established in corruption cases last year exceeded 16 million rubles. Nearly one-third of the damage has been compensated. However, it should be noted that property worth around 40 million rubles belonging to the accused and related persons has been seized,” she said.
According to her, in agriculture the most common offenses involve official forgery — cases related to falsification of records and concealment of livestock deaths. In industry, bribery in procurement processes is widespread.
“In the procurement sector, 750 individuals were held criminally liable for corruption last year, seven of whom held senior positions. Among them were the former First Deputy Chairman of the Brest Regional Executive Committee, the First Deputy Head of the Presidential Affairs Directorate of the Republic of Belarus, and the General Director of the unitary enterprise Belmedtekhnika,” Bakhar said.
“For example, the First Deputy Head of the Belarusian Railway state association was sentenced to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes totaling over 600,000 US dollars. The Head of a Main Directorate of the Ministry for Taxes and Duties was sentenced to 10 years in prison for minimizing the consequences of a tax inspection in exchange for a bribe of 15,000 US dollars,” she added.