Illegal entrepreneurial activity

Depending on the amount of income received from illegal entrepreneurial activity, the guilty person may be brought to administrative or criminal liability. Obtaining income in a large or especially large amount (from 1000 to 2500 basic units) entails criminal liability. In this case, income is understood as the entire amount of revenue in monetary or in-kind form, without taking into account the costs of obtaining it.

Despite the fact that in the Republic of Belarus the most favorable conditions are created for individuals wishing to engage in entrepreneurial activities during their registration, many citizens engaged in entrepreneurial activities in violation of the established procedure.

In 2015, 21 crimes related to illegal entrepreneurial activities were detected in the Vitebsk region by law enforcement agencies, and 16 were detected in 9 months of 2016.

The activities of many citizens without registration in the established manner were long-term, and the income received from the activities amounted to hundreds of millions of un-denominated rubles.

An example of illegal entrepreneurial activity was the activity of a citizen of the city of Miory, who, during 2013-2015, bought cattle from citizens of the Miory and Sharkovshchyna districts, and sold the meat of which in the territory of the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, having received an income of more than 311 million un-denominated Belarusian rubles.

A criminal case against the said person has been sent by the Prosecutor's Office of the Vitebsk Region to the Miory District Court for consideration on the merits.

Compliance with the requirements of the legislation when receiving income is the duty of every citizen, and law enforcement agencies

and further effective measures will be taken to identify persons engaged in illegal entrepreneurial activities and bring them to justice.

Senior Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision
over the Enforcement of Legislation
by the Investigative Committee Directorate
of the Republic of Belarus for the Vitebsk Region
Counselor of Justice V.M. Vasiliev