President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko received a report from the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Yuri Senko today, BELTA correspondent reports.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko received a report from the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Yuri Senko today, BELTA correspondent reports.
Yuri Senko reported on the results of the customs authorities' work in 2019. The head of state asked to pay special attention to the formation of the revenue part of the republican budget – whether the set targets were met.
"The second issue is about the formation of the revenue part of the budget in terms of my instructions at the end of last year. There was an instruction to you and the government (specifically to Prime Minister Rumas) on additional revenues for the republican budget. I would like to hear how your department performed," the President said.
He noted that the activities of the customs authorities will be considered in more detail soon, as part of the government's report on the results of the economy's work last year. "If there are urgent issues that require the President's decision, please, I am ready to listen," Alexander Lukashenko added.
"As for customs payments that were supposed to go into our country's budget, the projected figure set by the Ministry of Finance has been met by 100.5%," Yuri Senko informed.
As he told journalists after the report to the President, over Br9.065 billion in payments were received by the republican budget in 2019. This is almost Br400 million (4.2%) less than in 2018. One of the reasons is the decrease in production volumes in the oil industry and export customs duties on oil product exports (by 33.2%).
"We were able to compensate for the costs associated with export duties, which we did not collect last year, by collecting Br406 million through VAT, excise tax, and import customs duties paid by individuals. This work was carried out purposefully so that not a single kopeck would be lost and all of it would go into state revenue. The work continues, and similar tasks are set for the current year," noted the Chairman of the State Customs Committee.
In total, in 2019, 111 million tons of goods were transported across the Belarusian border for import and export, which is 3.2 million tons less than in 2018: mainly due to a decrease in coal transit from Russia by rail. At the same time, the total transit flow of goods imported into the EAEU territory through Belarus increased by 5.4% to 17.5 million tons, of which 11.4 million tons were destined for Russia. The number of trucks transported across the Belarusian border also increased by 5.1% to 2.3 million units. This indicates an increased load on road checkpoints.
In 2019, customs authorities detected 47.3 thousand offenses and 387 crimes (in 2018, 35.5 thousand offenses and 357 crimes). 181 criminal cases were initiated on the facts of illegal cross-border movement and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. More than 645 kg of drugs were seized from illegal circulation (in 2018, 225 kg).
"The situation remains complex. The four largest batches attempted to be transported through the territory of our country towards the Russian Federation – this is almost 500 kg of drugs," noted Yuri Senko.
In 2019, attempts to illegally transport cash across the border also increased. If in 2018, currency worth Br1.6 million was seized, then in 2019, this figure reached Br9.5 million.