MOSCOW, 26 September (BelTA) – Time for admonishing and convincing Belarusian commercial entities is over as far as the return of overdue external accounts receivable is concerned, BelTA learned from Prosecutor General of Belarus Alexander Konyuk on 26 September.
The official said: “We have already started resorting to unpopular measures. As you may understand, the prosecution service practices tough methods like criminal prosecution.” Alexander Konyuk specified that damages will be recovered from specific individuals instead of commercial entities.
As an example the prosecutor general mentioned that a criminal investigation had been opened against a dairy and meat industry group. “The work has begun. Not because we are trying to scare someone but because there is no other way out. The sums are too large,” he stressed.
Alexander Konyuk explained that overdue accounts receivable are sometimes caused by dishonest Russian buyers of Belarusian products and sometimes by objective reasons. “Economic risks are always part of running a business. But unfortunately the overdue accounts receivable are mostly caused by criminal reasons,” he remarked.
The prosecutor general of Belarus also thanked Russia's Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika for the assistance the Belarusian prosecution service enjoys in efforts to recover the foreign currency proceeds.
Prosecutor General of Belarus Alexander Konyuk and Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko arranged a meeting at the embassy of Belarus in Moscow on 26 September to discuss overdue accounts receivable. They heard out reports from representatives of the companies that distribute Belarusian goods in Russia. The companies reported how the instructions given at a similar meeting on 27 April were being fulfilled and the measures taken to really reduce the sums Belarusian companies are owed by Russian companies. The meeting gathered representatives of the Belarusian distributors in Russia (trading houses, official distributors, representative offices, and major dealers) run by the Industry Ministry, the petrochemical concern Belneftekhim, the light industry concern Bellegprom, and representatives of Minsk Oblast food companies.
As of 1 August 2017 Russian companies owed $1,783.3 million to Belarusian companies, up 0.6% from the beginning of the year, with overdue sums at $210.4 million (10.3% up from 1 January 2017). In July the debts of Russian partners dropped by 3.4%, with overdue sums down by 4%.
