Фото: Генпрокуратура
The Partizanski District Court of Minsk has found two former deputy directors for commercial affairs at one of the country’s largest state-owned enterprises guilty of accepting bribes.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the case began in 2012. The enterprise had long failed to pay for raw materials supplied from abroad. A representative of the foreign supplier approached one of the deputy directors and asked for assistance in securing payment for delivered goods on a priority basis rather than according to the normal queue. The issue was resolved in the supplier’s favour.
In return, the deputy director demanded a payment of $10,000. Between 2012 and 2014, he received a total of $100,000 in illicit rewards.
After he left the company in 2017, the second defendant was appointed to the position. The first deputy director informed the supplier’s representatives that issues could be resolved with the new manager using the same arrangement. Between 2018 and 2020, the second defendant accepted $200,000 in bribes.
The first defendant was sentenced to seven years in prison. The second received a 12-year prison sentence and a fine of 3,500 base units. Both were barred from holding positions involving organisational, managerial or administrative responsibilities for five years.
The court also convicted a consultant who acted as an intermediary and transferred the bribes to the officials. He was sentenced to three years in a medium-security penal colony.
The verdict has not yet entered into force and may still be appealed.