January

2000

The open letter

Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus

The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus

The ministry of Business and investments of the Republic of Belarus

To the chairmen of the regional executive committees

16.12.99 the all-republican conference of the chairmen of the businessmen’s structures and organisations was held.

We sent an abstract from the protocol and explanatory note to this abstract to your address. (abstract from the protocol is published in #33 of the bulletin "Businessman").

Abstract from the protocol of the all-republican conference of the chairmen of the businessmen’s structures and organisations from 16.12.99.

Listened: About the situation in the field of development of business and taxation in regions and Minsk.

Decided:

1.      To consider the situation in the Republic of Belarus in the field of development of business and taxation as invalid critical.

2. To consider widespread bribes on the part of the employees of militia and tax services when the goods are transported and realised as the crime against the citizens. To mark out that fact that the favourable conditions for racket, extortion of bribes and mockeries at the businessmen is created by the state by issuing the appropriate Decrees and subordinate legislation.

Listened: About realisation of the actions of the protest in January February, 2000.

Decided:

To conduct 31.01.2000 the meeting in Minsk to protect economical and other rights of the businessmen and other citizens of the Republic of Belarus…

To begin the all-republican strike of the businessmen with 1.02.2000 with the termination of payment of taxes and other payments.

Our requirements:

1)     Cancellation (simplification) of the obligatory book keeping for people who have paid the fixed rates of taxes.

2) To pronounce "moratorium" to increase the rates of the fixed tax.

3)Cancellation of the value added tax (VAT) for persons paying the fixed rates of the tax.

4) Cancellation of the obligatory certification and hygienic registration of the goods for the goods realised in the markets with an obligatory checkmark "the goods is not certificated in RB". An admission of the certificates of other countries.

5) Cancellation of the decrees of A. Lukashenko #14 and #40.

6) To stop extortion of bribes on the part of militia, tax inspectors and administrations of the markets, workers of executive committees.

7) To stop rackets and extortion on the part of the government officials when the goods are transported from Russia in Belarus.

The explanatory note.

For a long time (more than for two years) an unreasonably great state machinery has introduced more than 800 corrections and changes to the legislative and normative base regulating the activity of small business in the Republic of Belarus. Each ministry, office, state body has added something in the current legislation in this area. Many of them continue this "legislative" activity and up today. There are different excuses for each government official to extend authorities of the office. The main purpose is to make a small businessman depend on the instructions of an official. And then it is easier to extort bribes from businessmen and to justify the contents of the bureaucracy. All ministries and offices have finally got confused and nobody understands anything.

We hear frequently how the tax inspection, bodies of the state control, the law-enforcement and customs bodies have brought such income to the state by expropriations and realisation of checks. And more often this "income" exceeds all tax receipts in the budget taken together. But you see it is not the income! It is means extracted in a criminal way. In a role of the criminal the state as a whole and particular officials who make this robbery acts.

99 percents of such cases this "income" for the benefit of the state has obviously criminal tint. The state on behalf of the state inspector takes property and money resources away from citizens and organisations to the formal and far-fetched reasons. The same situation in Belarus was within the years of the fascist occupation. But then the invaders took the property away and now our citizens (in any way, according to the passport) who are provided with certain powers take it away.

The legislation law in the field of small business should be extreme simple and understandable. The main duty of a businessman is the payment of reasonable fixed tax in time. The main duty of the state is the creation of favourable development of conditions for the citizens. The businessmen execute their duty before the state monthly in a full volume. The state their duties before businessmen is failed to execute.

The fixed rate of the income tax for the personal businessmen is very great. On its sense it also is a set of all financial obligations of a businessman before the state. A businessman who has paid the fixed rate of the income tax should not be a subject to any additional taxes or duties.

Absurdity and absence of the ground to introduce the value added tax (VAT) for businessmen who pay the fixed rate of the tax are so obvious that are clear even to the fool. And our officials do not understand that introducing the VAT means that the common tax from a businessman exceeds his income in two - three times and his activity is deprived of sense. The final price of the goods is increased, therefore, a customer also suffers. Our officials have got confused in the terms. So, 20 % tax from a commodity turnover they have called as the VAT. And the tax is planned to be paid from each sale of the goods.

The introducing of certification and hygienic registration on the goods realised at the markets of cities, is justified by nothing, except for the attempt to contain the next office at the expense of the taxpayers. It is a paradox. The body which gives out a certificate of quality or certificate about hygienic registration is not responsible before a customer, in a case if the goods which have been checked appear of poor-quality. So what for is such a check necessary? According to the legislation in the sphere of protection of the rights of a customer only a seller or a producer of the goods is responsible for the goods of low quality. The national control system over quality and safety of the goods is not capable to conduct a proper check of the goods. All check is a discharging of "empty" papers (certificates about quality of the goods) for which a body issuing them is not reliable for. At the end, for all a customer pay by his purse as the price of the goods increases.

The buyer should have the right to buy the goods cheaper or more expensive with the certificate of quality or without those. If the state is really interested in the safety and quality of the goods, it is necessary to introduce a financial responsibility of bodies issuing the documents which verify the quality of the goods before a customer.

That the certification of the goods is full fiction speaks also that fact that the shops are full of the not certificated goods confiscated from the citizens and organisations. It is not clear why the certificates of other countries are not admitted.

From our point of view, a businessman is obliged to inform a customer that these goods are not certificated in a national system of certification and standardisation. And it is the right of a customer what goods he wants to buy.

If somebody in the ware market in Poland or Turkey ask about the certificate on the goods, he will be looked at for a long time with a large surprise. And in these countries the requirement to quality of the goods is much higher than in Belarus.

The main problem of all citizens and businessmen is property right. All legislative acts, specially Decrees of the president of RB #14 and #40 directed on uncompensated taking of the property of the citizens away to the formal and far-fetched tags are the breach of the constitution of the Republic of Belarus.

So for example:

The article 44 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus guarantees the property right to everyone and encourages its acquisition.

The owner has the right to own, to use and to dispose the property both by himself and together with other people. Inviolability of the property, right of its inheriting are guarded by the law.

The property acquired in a legal way is defended by the state.

Compulsory purchase of property is allowed only on motives of public necessity when the conditions and the order established by the law are observed and with full and in time compensation of the cost of the estranged property, and also according to the court decision.

In the Decrees these and other requirements of the Constitution are disturbed in the most impudent way. We think that the solution of the question about protection of the private and personal ownership will decide the majority of problems connected with the development of business in the Republic of Belarus. The private property should be inviolable. Granting of the free and arbitrary right to any state inspector to confiscate the property of the citizens and businessmen has created in the country a huge system on racket of bribes. Today bribes are not taken only by a "lazy" man. It seems that the state likes it but we, ordinary citizens do not agree with this point of view and we shall struggle with it by all accessible measures.

The unreasonably high, ungrounded rates of the fixed tax, huge rent payment for trade places at the markets, legal non-protection of the businessmen from an outrage of administrations of the markets very strongly slow down the development of business in our republic. Because of it, many citizens can not begin the businessmen’s activity.

We also offer you, people who are trusted to at the authority, to decide until 20.01.2000 the above-described problems.

Otherwise, we reserve the right to begin large-scale actions of the protest and actions of the civil defiance.

Yours faithfully

The chairman of conference Valery Levonevsky

The notice: this letter is sent into above-stated addresses.

The appeal

To attention of the citizens, businessmen, chairmen of public organisations, political parties and trade unions.

As for 31.01.2000 the businessmen of the Republic of Belarus according to the solution of republican conference of the chairmen of the businessmen’s structures and organisations from 16.12.99 realise the meeting to protect economical rights and legitimate interests of the citizens of the Republic of Belarus.

The place and time of realisation of the meeting will be indicated when the sanction of the executive committee of Minsk is obtained.

We invite all to take part in the preparation and realisation of this measure. There is the capability that the authorities of the Minsk executive committee will refuse to realise the meeting (in Grodno practically all meetings, charitable actions and trade-union conferences of the local authorities are prohibited), so we shall be grateful to all parties, trade unions, public organisations and citizens if they for submit parallel applications on the meeting 31.01.2000 at 15.00 in Minsk.

Information can be got at:

The mail address

Subscriber box 63, 230005 Grodno - 5 (for the letters), Belarus

Telephone / fax (+375 152) 31-30-62

Pager telephone (+375 152) 73-00-00 subscriber 95200

E-mail: root@lion.belpak.grodno.by (mailto:root@lion.belpak.grodno.by), levonevski@mail.ru (mailto:levonevski@mail.ru).

From the editors

The NEW YEAR has begun!

A.     Lukashenko visited the Sacred ground to atone for his sins by prayer. Did the God give him absoluton? Hardly…

If we return to our problems it is clear that the strike since 1.02.2000 is vivid. 97 % of the interrogated businessmen (from 15.000 businessmen in all regional centres and Minsk) are “for” the strike. In following numbers of the bulletin we shall publish the detailed information obtained through the questionnaires.

Many cities have already begun to strike and are ready to strike for two months.

Many businessmen are already fined for the sale of the goods without the certificate of quality. For example, the order of the Administrative commission of Ivatsevichy (the chairman is L. S. Popko (the surname is not intelligible) fined on 7.250.000 roubles the businessman O. V. Pimostchenko because she sold six pairs of footwear without these fool papers-certificates.

Very effective way to protect the rights is meetings of the protest. A problem of trade unions is to organise meetings, problem of the businessmen is to finance these measures.

I shall remind that the first meeting is planned for 31.01.2000 in Minsk. It is very important for all of us that the strike with 1.02.2000 is organised, all of you have understood what the VAT and certification, outrage testing and management of the market are. But you have not  read the next masterpiece of thought of Lukashenko yet, the Decree №40. We shall publish it below. On this Decree your property will be taken away simply according to the disposal of A. Lukashenko without court and effect. And not only your property but also the property which YOU have temporarily (car by proxy, goods to realise, commission goods etc.). Think, think and think once again. Do not yield on instigating, act in organised and balanced way.

THE DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS.

November 23, 1999 N 40

To maintain damage caused to the state and according to the third part of article 101 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus I ORDER:

1.      To establish, that:

1.1.           According to the decision of the President of the Republic of Belarus the property inherited on property right (of economic management, operating control) is transferred to the property of the Republic of Belarus:

It may be property of:

The physical persons who have caused damaged to the state;

The legal persons who are founded by the indicated physical persons;

The legal persons who are founded by legal persons the property of whom is transferred in the property of the Republic of Belarus according to this sub-item;

1.2.           The control of property transferred to the property of the Republic of Belarus is executed by the Ministry on control over the state property and privatisation, if other is not established by the President of the Republic of Belarus;

1.3.           In the property of the Republic of Belarus is not transferred

The property which is not the subject to expropriating on a court decision and also the property which price is not less than 20 minimum wages;

1.4. The property transferred to the property of the Republic of Belarus (its money's worth), can be given back its predecessors in cases:

Full remedial of the damage caused to the state;

Acceptance of the solution of the court about an admission of the appropriate person to be innocent in causing the damage to the state.

2.      This Decree has its force from the date of his publication, is temporary and according to the third part of article 101 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus is presented for consideration into the National assembly of the Republic of Belarus.

The president of the Republic of Belarus A. Lukashenko