Corruption in Public Procurement is Unacceptable

The National Security Concept of the Republic of Belarus, approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 575 of November 9, 2010, identifies effective anti-corruption efforts as a priority area for ensuring state security.

A significant role in combating corruption is assigned to preventive measures, which include improving state regulation and control in areas prone to corruption risks.

The Beshenkovichi District Prosecutor's Office conducted an analysis of compliance by economic entities in the district with anti-corruption legislation during the past period of 2020, during which similar violations were identified in the field of procurement.

For instance, several organizations in the region, which are recipients of budget funds, failed to publish annual public procurement plans, as well as reports on conducted procedures and concluded contracts, on the electronic trading platform for public access, thereby violating Articles 19, 49 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 419-Z of July 13, 2012 "On Public Procurement of Goods (Works, Services)" (as amended on July 17, 2018).

At the same time, the requirements of Article 15 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 305-Z of July 15, 2015 "On Combating Corruption" oblige state bodies and other state organizations to carry out procedures stipulated by legislative acts when making decisions on procurement and selecting suppliers for state needs.

Moreover, according to paragraph 12 of part 1 of Article 25 of the Law on Combating Corruption, a violation by a state official or a person equated to them of the procedure established by legislative acts for conducting tenders, auctions, and procurement procedures constitutes an offense that creates conditions for corruption.

Thus, the aforementioned violations of anti-corruption legislation are unacceptable, as they do not ensure efficient and transparent spending of budget funds and do not promote fair competition among suppliers of goods (works, services), which creates grounds for inefficient spending of funds allocated from the budget for public procurement.

Based on the results of the analysis, the district prosecutor issued directives to the heads of organizations demanding immediate elimination of anti-corruption legislation violations. By order of the district prosecutor, 7 officials were brought to administrative responsibility for violations in the field of public procurement under Part 4 of Article 11.16 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus.

Deputy Prosecutor

1st Class Lawyer V.V. Doylidov

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