MINSK, 1 August (BelTA) – Belarusian government agencies wage the war on corruption and economic crimes without a system. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made the statement at the government session held on 1 August to discuss the effectiveness of the fight against corruption and economic crimes, BelTA has learned.
The President noted: “One has to admit that not everything has been done to suppress corruption and economic violations. The work of the authorized government agencies often lacks a systemic approach and is limited to detecting insignificant crimes. Municipal authorities are passive, too”.
Alexander Lukashenko underlined that Belarusian anticorruption laws meet international standards and do not require an overall reform at present. The President believes that the state has the right to expect better performance from the agencies in charge of suppressing corruption manifestations and economic crimes because the state spends fortunes on keeping these agencies.
“It is obvious that self-complacence and the inertness of individual department heads of law enforcement and auditing agencies are the main reasons behind the current situation,” said the head of state. “Those, who sit at this table, are where the guilt lies, not the people, who get the blame. If you feel no internal conviction that it is a dreadful curse for the state that must be eradicated across the board, we will never defeat corruption”.
“I want you to understand that I will dare any decisive action, including against the top officials,” said the President. He warned all the heads of government agencies, who were present at the session, that they will be held personally responsible for the state of affairs regarding the suppression of corruption and economic crimes. “Let me make it clear: it is not about waging campaigns, it is about constantly working on it every day,” said the head of state.
Alexander Lukashenko said he wanted the Prosecutor General’s Office to truly coordinate efforts of all the law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime and corruption. “The time to click heels is over. We need resolute fight against this evil,” said the President. “So far the Prosecutor General’s Office has failed to deliver”.
“The real fight against the gravest forms of corruption and economic crimes that cause massive material damage and harm the rights and legal interests of citizens should not be replaced by the race for statistics,” emphasized the President.
Alexander Lukashenko said he regretted the lack of proper cooperation among law enforcement agencies. “It is also alarming that prosecutors have failed to take real measures to address the unproductive joint work of operational services and investigational units in assessing the evidence collected to prove economic crimes. Sometimes it is the reason for untimely criminal cases or unjustified termination of criminal cases,” said the head of state.
He also remarked that the prosecution service substitutes effective coordination of joint work with make work and talks about statistical data. “You have promised you will put a stop to this excessive unnecessary paperwork,” Alexander Lukashenko told Prosecutor General Alexander Konyuk.
Alexander Lukashenko also pointed out the special importance of effective fight against corruption and economic crimes. “From my point of view these are the most important threats for our state. There is nothing scarier than these also because we handle other threats, one can say, successfully,” said the head of state.
At the same time the President noted that certain positive changes had been secured thanks to the development of a system of measures to eradicate illegal phenomena in all forms and manifestations and analyze the performance of relevant government agencies in these areas. “For the last three years the number of corruption crimes and economic crimes in Belarus has been falling,” said the head of state. “Whatever attitudes we may face in Western Europe, America, other countries, everyone unambiguously admits that in Belarus the authorities work hard to block any corruption crimes. There are no untouchables in Belarus. It is the opinion of Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, other nations, which are not neighbors of our country”. The international image of Belarus in this regard has improved. “It is confirmed by the effectiveness of the national-level measures that we take, particularly preventive ones. Nevertheless, fight against corruption is still on agenda. It requires constant attention and systemic work on behalf of law enforcement agencies and the entire society,” stressed Alexander Lukashenko.
Written by belta.by
