In the Vitebsk region, prosecutors conducted an inspection of the implementation of legislation when making decisions on granting loan guarantees

The prosecutor's offices of the Vitebsk region conducted an inspection of the enforcement of legislation in the process of local executive and administrative bodies making decisions on providing guarantees for loans issued by banks of the Republic of Belarus, and on exercising control over the timely repayment of loans and interest thereon.

The inspection established that the work on providing guarantees for bank loans in the Vitebsk region is organized quite actively: in 2014, 175 guarantee agreements for loans were concluded, in 2015 – 462 agreements, in 2016 – 400 agreements, in 2017 – 142 agreements, and in 4 months of 2018 – 1 agreement. The largest number of agreements were concluded by the regional executive committee – 311, Vitebsk district executive committee – 81, Verkhnedvinsk district executive committee – 69, Dubrovno district executive committee – 69, and Tolochin district executive committee – 64.

At the same time, during the study of this area of activity, prosecutors identified significant violations of the law.

Thus, the instructions on the procedure for providing guarantees for loans issued by banks of the Republic of Belarus, approved by the decisions of city and district executive committees, were not always up-to-date and did not comply with the established requirements (Beshenkovichi, Glubokoe, and Miory districts).

In violation of clause 6 of the Regulation on the Procedure for Providing Guarantees of the Government of the Republic of Belarus for Loans Issued by Banks of the Republic of Belarus, approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of June 30, 2008 No. 359, decisions were made to provide guarantees for bank loans in the absence of necessary documents (Orsha, Miory, Glubokoe, and Dubrovno districts).

The inspection noted insufficient interaction between local executive and administrative bodies and banks, as evidenced by the lack of proper work on recourse collection from debtors for debts on executed guarantees, and the untimely sending of notifications by banks to executive committees with attached copies of documents confirming claims against borrowers.

In several districts, cases of unjustified provision of guarantees for loans to legal entities were identified.

individuals with arrears in budget payments, as well as those who have not fulfilled their obligations under previously granted loans (credits) (Vitebsk, Polotsk, Miory and Gluboksky districts).

In violation of the requirements of budget legislation, the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee in 2017 – the elapsed period of 2018 made decisions on granting loan guarantees when the established debt limit was exceeded (loan guarantees for SO "Vitebsk Concern "Meat and Dairy Products", OJSC "Vitebsk Meat Packing Plant").

There were instances of decisions being made to grant guarantees to secure the obligations of lessee organizations for the repayment of arrears under financial lease (leasing) agreements, which does not comply with the requirements of clause 1 of Article 2, clause 2 of Article 65 of the Budget Code of the Republic of Belarus.

In Dubrovensky and Polotsky districts, contrary to the established requirements, guarantee agreements were concluded without timely payment of the corresponding fee by legal entities.

In connection with the identified violations, district prosecutors submitted 6 submissions to the district executive committees, and a protest was filed against the decision of the executive committee. The regional prosecutor's office sent a submission to the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee on eliminating legislative violations in the provision of guarantees for loans issued by banks, as well as the causes and conditions contributing to them. These supervisory acts are currently under consideration.

Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision
over the Enforcement of Legislation
and Legality of Legal Acts
of the Regional Prosecutor's Office Marina Zaprudskaya