On October 25, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. Law enforcement agencies of the Vitebsk region detected 300 corruption-related crimes in January-September of the current year, which is a 5% increase compared to the same period last year. This was reported to BELTA correspondent by Yevgeny Lapkovsky, Head of the Department for Combating Corruption and Organised Crime of the Vitebsk Region Prosecutor's Office. In the reporting period, 169 individuals who committed corruption-related crimes were brought to criminal liability, which is 21 more people than in January-September 2010. In terms of corruption-related crimes, an increase in cases of bribery, embezzlement through abuse of official powers, and legalisation of proceeds of crime was noted, Yevgeny Lapkovsky stated, adding that the sectors most prone to corruption manifestations are industry, agriculture, education, and trade. In particular, the regional prosecutor's office has forwarded to court a criminal case against the director, deputy director, and chief accountant of one of the region's enterprises, who, between 2006 and 2010, using their official powers, embezzled over Br1.4 billion by cashing out funds under the guise of purchasing software. "The fact that officials are often offered bribes by negligent citizens, including those from neighbouring countries, and do not agree with such an approach is encouraging. It is precisely this active civic stance that contributes to enhancing the authority of state bodies and bringing specific bribe-givers to criminal liability," Yevgeny Lapkovsky emphasised. For example, in accordance with Part 1 of Article 431 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, an illegal seller of non-ferrous metals, who attempted to conceal his offence by offering a bribe to an employee of the KGB department, was convicted. For similar actions, a Russian citizen was convicted, who persistently offered money to the head of one of the departments of the "Polimir" plant of OJSC "Naftan" for a favourable resolution of an issue related to the sale of technological equipment from the plant to his enterprise at a reduced cost without conducting a tender in the prescribed manner. Currently, a criminal case is being investigated against a resident of Orsha, who, to stop an inspection regarding the detention of a cargo with forged documents, gave a bribe to an employee of the ninth department (for the Vitebsk region) of the Main Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus.