President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has again sent the draft decree on control and supervisory activities for revision. This was announced to journalists by the Chairman of the State Control Committee Vasily Gerasimov following a meeting with the Head of State, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
This issue was previously discussed at the presidential level at a meeting in May last year. At that time, Alexander Lukashenko instructed to finalize the draft decree to make the document understandable and convenient for use. The task was also set to change the style and methods of work of control bodies, focusing on improving work efficiency.
However, this time too, a common ground could not be reached. The draft decree will be further refined on a number of issues raised during the discussion. The involved state bodies will have to find a compromise, revise approaches, and issue a document of proper quality.
"The draft decree was discussed in detail with the Head of State. During the discussion, issues were identified that will need to be finalized. The Council of Ministers, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the State Control Committee will undertake this work in order to issue a document of proper quality," said Vasily Gerasimov.
Specific deadlines for finalizing the document have not been set, according to him. However, they do not intend to delay this issue, as Decree No. 510 "On Improving Control (Supervisory) Activities in the Republic of Belarus," adopted in 2009, is already outdated, and the sphere itself requires certain adjustments, not only technical ones.
"The very essence of control activities has also changed. We are placing more emphasis on prevention and prophylaxis. And the Head of State sets us the task to maintain a balance: if you have violated, you will undoubtedly be held accountable, and there will be no exceptions in this case; if you are working normally, there will be no claims against you, and we will not burden you with frequent visits," explained the Chairman of the SCC.
Vasily Gerasimov noted that since 2020, the number of inspection activities has decreased by half. "This means that control is becoming more qualitative. We go where there are real problems," he added.
What are the main innovations of the draft decree
A new draft decree is a comprehensive document that consolidates all issues related to control activities. Its development took into account, among other things, proposals from local authorities, enterprises, and business circles.
"The main elements of the document are based on the current decree on control activities. These include forms of control, decision-making levels, procedural aspects, and inspection procedures. These measures are quite effective today," noted the Minister of Taxes and Duties, Dmitry Kijko.
At the same time, the government deemed it necessary to optimize control activities in a certain sense, strengthen preventive and explanatory work, and further protect the rights of inspected entities.
Why the document has been sent for revision again
One of the contentious issues in the document was the provision that clarifications from state bodies of various levels should be binding for controlling bodies. The State Control Committee (KGC) disagreed with this proposal. "The analysis we conducted shows that interpretations vary even between different regions. Not to mention that the same body can issue clarifications of completely different natures. Therefore, we will discuss this further," explained Vasily Gerasimov.
The next ambiguous point concerns the government's proposal to record all visits in the inspection logbook. The KGC believes that this will only create inconvenience for the current activities of officials, and the inspection logbook will turn into a visitor log.
"If, hypothetically, a governor goes to inspect the order in the fields or the sowing campaign, why should he go to the farm's head office and sign this book? This applies to the chairman of the district executive committee and to me as the authorized representative for the Grodno region. Where it is necessary (for an inspection or monitoring), it should undoubtedly be recorded. If it is for another purpose, it will probably be superfluous," believes the Chairman of the State Control Committee.
Dzmitry Kiyko added that the President also instructed to study the draft decree for its compliance with the Constitution and other legislative acts. "Following the discussion, the Head of State proposed that the government and other supervisory bodies (including the Committee of State Control and the Prosecutor General's Office) try to find compromises that would satisfy both the executive bodies and the entities to which these norms will apply," the minister summarized.
It is not yet known whether the updated draft decree will be submitted to the President for consideration again. If there are no disagreements on the document, it may be adopted in the usual manner.