24 August, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. The head of one of the departments of OJSC "Naftan" refused a bribe of $40,000 and helped detain the Russian bribe-giver, Vladimir Belous, Senior Assistant Prosecutor for Supervision over the Enforcement of Legislation on State Security of the Vitebsk Region Prosecutor's Office, told a BELTA correspondent. The head of a commercial firm from the Rostov region attempted to acquire four decommissioned refrigeration units containing copper alloys from OJSC "Naftan" at a reduced price, without a tender. He offered $10,000 for each unit. The persistent and repeated requests of the Russian businessman for assistance, despite a categorical refusal, forced the head of the plant's department to seek help from state security agencies. While under the control of employees of the Vitebsk regional department of the KGB of Belarus, the man from Rostov handed over an advance payment equivalent to $20,000 to the "Naftan" employee for a deal that he believed was successfully concluded. According to Vladimir Belous, despite repeated warnings from the "Naftan" employee that the businessman's actions were illegal and threatened criminal liability, the latter replied that this was normal business practice in his country. The bribe-giver was convicted by the Novopolotsk court under Part 2 of Article 431 "Giving a Bribe" of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus and sentenced to two years of imprisonment. The cassation instance took into account the convicted person's admission of guilt, his family situation, and health status, and commuted the imprisonment to a fine of Br35 million. The fine was paid, and the bribe-giver departed for his homeland.-0-

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