Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus Sergei Khmaruk took part in the 9th session of the Interstate Council for Combating Corruption which took place in Dushanbe

Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus Sergei Khmaruk attended the 9th meeting of the Interstate Council for Combating Corruption (the ICCC, the Council) in Dushanbe (Republic of Tajikistan).

For reference. The Council is a body of sectoral cooperation of the CIS and is intended within its competence to ensure organization and coordination of anti-corruption work, as well as to review the implementation of the obligations of the CIS Member States in the field of combating corruption, to ensure constructive cooperation with international organizations and their structures.

The main areas of the ICCC’s activities are: promoting convergence and harmonization of national anti-corruption legislation; elaboration of proposals on the development of the legal basis for cooperation; coordination of interaction between the competent authorities of the Member States of the Agreement, as well as interested CIS bodies in the fight against corruption.

The meeting is attended by Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov, Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic Maksat Asanaliev, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askhat Zhumagali, Director of the Agency for State Financial Control and Anti-Corruption of the Republic of Tajikistan Sulaimon Sultonzoda.

Among the invited persons are representatives of the Council of Heads of Financial Intelligence Units of CIS Member States, the Coordination Council of Heads of Tax (Financial) Investigation Bodies of CIS Member States and the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Speaking at the ICCC meeting, the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus informed his colleagues about the legal framework developed in the country to counteract corrupt practices both within the State and in the international arena. He emphasized that the competent authorities are focused on identifying not single facts of domestic corruption, but criminal schemes in strategic areas of the economy and public administration.

“Today we can state: every second corruption offense in Belarus is bribery. More than 70% of cases of bribery are detected in procurement, execution of contracts and patronage of commercial structures, the so-called “roofing”. Over the past year and a half, the illegal activities of more than 30 officials, who held responsible positions in industry, transportation, agriculture, banking sector and public administration, have been suppressed. We believe that such corrupt practices are unacceptable in our country, and a corrupt official poses a special danger to the State”. The Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus informed in detail about the specific proposals of the agency to improve the legislation in terms of minimizing the risks of possible abuse by participants in the procurement process.

In his speech, Sergei Khmaruk noted the achievements of the Republic of Belarus as to legal regulation of cryptocurrency turnover, while pointing out the risks associated with its use.

“Last year there was a tendency of a significant increase in the use of cryptocurrency in illegal activities. For the most part, this concerns the withdrawal of funds obtained as a result of committing property cybercrimes, selling drugs, financing terrorism and extremism, as well as legalization of proceeds of crime. However, one should not assume that such digital funds are not involved in corruption,” said the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus. “The measures taken made it possible in 2023 to identify the first crime in the country related to the receipt of bribes in the form of cryptocurrency, as well as to turn it into the state income through special confiscation mechanisms adapted for these purposes”.

At the end of his speech, the representative of the Belarusian supervisory agency emphasized that taking into account the opinion of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the country is developing the Concept of the development of the sphere of tokens and clarifying the rules of transactions with them: “One of the key provisions is proposed to regulate the possibility of conducting transactions with tokens only through crypto platforms registered in Belarus. This will ensure a proper level of identification of users and accumulation of information about their actions. Thus, it is expected to reduce the likelihood of involvement of citizens and their assets in illegal activities. And what is important, the administrative legislation will be supplemented with a norm that provides for liability for the circulation of tokens bypassing crypto platforms.”

Sergei Khmaruk also elaborated on the CIS model anti-corruption legislation, which, according to the Belarusian side, should be improved for a more successful fight against corruption at the international level.

As a result of the ICCC meeting, a number of organizational decisions were made. In particular, the Director of the Agency for State Financial Control and Anti-Corruption of the Republic of Tajikistan Sulaimon Sultonzoda was appointed Chairman of the Council for the next year, and the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov and the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia Anna Vardapetyan were appointed co-chairpersons. The new composition of the Council Secretariat was approved.

The meeting elaborated the work plan of the Interstate Council for Combating Corruption for 2025, which includes further cooperation in the field of combating corruption in the CIS, participation in the activities of the working structures of the Commonwealth bodies, analysis of the state of corruption crime in the Member States of the Council for 2024, as well as strengthening international cooperation.

The next meeting of the Council will be held in 2025 in the Republic of Armenia.

After the multilateral meeting, representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Belarus also held a bilateral meeting with Director of the Agency for State Financial Control and Anti-Corruption of the Republic of Tajikistan Sulaimon Sultonzoda, where they signed a programme of interaction for the coming years.

“The Cooperation Agreement concluded in 2022 between the agencies is being successfully implemented. The meetings that we regularly hold in various formats undoubtedly allow us to get to know each other better, learn from each other’s work experience and apply it in practice, taking into account national conditions. We are convinced that joint work should be continued, as Belarus and Tajikistan have built friendly and constructive relations in all spheres of interstate cooperation. The favorable environment created by our joint efforts yields results in the areas of industrial cooperation,” Sergei Khmaruk addressed Sulaimon Sultonzoda. “There is a full-fledged dialogue between our countries at the highest levels. Economy, politics, law, trade, culture and education are linked by thousands of threads. For our part, we will strengthen these ties. I believe that we need to take all possible measures to ensure legality and integrity of business practices, thus preserving them for many years to come”.

The signed cooperation programme will help strengthen cooperation between Belarus and Tajikistan in the criminal justice sphere, as well as protect the rights and legitimate interests of citizens of the two States.

 Photo: https://epp.genproc.gov.ru/web/gprf

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