The prosecutor's claim work is an effective means of strengthening legality in the economic sphere

The results of the work of the Vitebsk region prosecutor's offices in using their powers in economic proceedings for the first half of 2018 indicate a positive role of the prosecutor's office in protecting state and public interests, strengthening legality, and preventing offenses in the sphere of entrepreneurial and other economic activities.

The achievement of positive results is largely due to the correct focus in organizing work and choosing forms of prosecutor's appeals to the economic court.

In order to restore the legally protected rights of economic entities and protect state and public interests in 2018, prosecutors of the Vitebsk region filed 60 lawsuits and 270 applications for the initiation of summary proceedings for a total amount equivalent to 8.2 million Belarusian rubles.

In modern conditions, civil turnover is characterized by a significant degree of independence of economic entities, which must themselves take care of their rights and the fulfillment of their obligations. Taking into account the principle of dispositivity, prosecutors last year showed prudence in preparing lawsuits so as not to substitute the initiative and independence of enterprises and organizations. As a consequence, the total number of lawsuits (applications) in 2018 decreased by a quarter compared to 2017 (from 446 to 330).

Prosecutor's intervention in the form of filing lawsuits (applications) was justified in the interests of enterprises in industry, transport, and housing and communal services against their counterparties who failed to pay for supplied products and services, in situations where this aggravated the dire financial situation of the applicants and caused periodic delays in wage payments to employees.

In particular, prosecutors from Vitebsk, Dubrovno, Liozno, Tolochin, Polotsk districts, and the city of Novopolotsk defended the interests of enterprises experiencing a shortage of working capital for settlements with employees in economic courts.

Last year, work continued on filing lawsuits to recover currency

revenue into the country. In the interests of Belarusian supplier organizations, 10 lawsuits were filed to recover overdue foreign accounts receivable totaling 73.6 thousand Belarusian rubles, 54.8 million Russian rubles, and 93.4 thousand euros.

For example, against the Russian counterparty LLC "BalmikoProdimport", prosecutors from Polotsk, Glubokoye districts, and the city of Vitebsk, in the interests of Belarusian dairy industry enterprises, filed 3 lawsuits totaling over 36 million Russian rubles. The prosecutors' claims were fully satisfied.

The prosecutors' appeals to the economic courts were mainly of a property nature, with the claimed demands related to the non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of contractual obligations. However, lawsuits of other categories were also filed.

For instance, upon the claim of the prosecutor of Gorodok district, the economic court of Vitebsk region recognized the ownership rights of OJSC "Gorodok Lіnе Factory" to an administrative building, a production workshop, and a garage with a total book value of 96.8 thousand rubles, which were transferred to the enterprise from the reorganized LLC "Gorodok Rayсельхозэнерго". The latter had not carried out its financial and economic activities since 2003, merely being listed in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs. In this situation, if OJSC "Gorodok Lіnе Factory" had filed such a claim independently, it would have effectively deprived the plaintiff of the opportunity to receive a refund of the state duty paid from the defendant.

The claim of the prosecutor of Polotsk district in the interests of the state to establish the nullity of the sale and purchase agreement for a share in the authorized capital of a limited liability company and to apply the consequences of the invalidity of the transaction was satisfied. The said agreement was concluded between citizens in violation of the relevant prohibition of the bailiff executing the court sentence on the confiscation of property of the convicted person, who was a participant in the said company and the seller in the transaction.

The results of the consideration of the prosecutors' lawsuits (applications) generally indicate qualitative approaches in the preparation of documents for submission to the court.

The number of satisfied prosecutor's claims was 87 percent, and considering cases terminated due to settlement agreements or withdrawal of claims due to the defendant's payment of debt after the case was initiated, it exceeded 94 percent.

This situation is largely facilitated by the interaction between the prosecutor's office and the economic court of the Vitebsk region, aimed at improving the quality of documents submitted to the court in compliance with the requirements of both procedural and substantive law.

Key issues related to the participation of prosecutors in economic legal proceedings were discussed at a training and methodological seminar for prosecutors, held at the regional prosecutor's office. Representatives of the economic court of the Vitebsk region traditionally took part in the seminar.

Deputy Head of the Department for Supervision of Legislation Enforcement and Legality of Legal Acts Dmitry Kudryavtsev.