President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, answering journalists' questions during a working trip to the Brest region, shared details about the newly established Fund of the First, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, answering journalists' questions during a working trip to the Brest region, shared details about the newly established Fund of the First, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
The Head of State noted that the idea to establish a unified fund in the country under the patronage of the President was voiced by him a long time ago, and implemented relatively recently. First and foremost, the Fund of the First is established for charitable purposes – to collect funds in one place and provide assistance to those who truly need it.
"The main thing is that we will be able to accumulate money from those who are not indifferent. And from my side, it is a guarantee that this money will not be embezzled," explained Alexander Lukashenko.
The fund has not yet begun active operations: its account currently has no incoming funds, there is no manager yet, and so on.
"I, you could say, gave my name to it – the Fund of the First, so that we could collect some money and help those in need. This is its main task," added the President. He noted that after the closure of a number of funds and organizations that, under the guise of charity and other public activities, attempted to destabilize the situation in the country in 2020, it became difficult to find a way to participate in charity. "We shut them down here. And those who helped us and want to help – legally cannot. Then I said: let's establish this fund under the auspices of the President, completely open, so that people who contribute funds to this fund understand where this money is going," said the Belarusian leader.
Alexander Lukashenko announced the need to establish a unified national fund in Belarus under the patronage of the President in August 2022, during the introduction of Yuri Nazarov as the Administrator of the President's Affairs.
"I know that many funds and small funds have left Belarus, some we simply removed, because you know what they were doing: they were carrying out coups with foreign money. They tried to carry them out. Therefore, when we studied the work of these funds, we were forced to abandon them," noted Alexander Lukashenko.
The Head of State recalled that he had previously instructed the Director of the Presidential Affairs Department to create a unified national fund to operate under the patronage of the President. "Those sincere, honest people who want to engage in charity will gladly join this fund because they will understand that not a single kopeck will be diverted from it, and it will be used for noble purposes," stated Alexander Lukashenko.
Source: belta.by