MINSK, 14 January (BelTA) - The full ban on intermediaries' participation in procurement is not advisable, Belarus' First Vice Premier Dmitry Krutoi said at the meeting of the president with the Council of Ministers senior members, BelTA has learned.
He weighed in on the draft decree to improve procurement procedures. “Stakeholders, including law enforcement bodies, spoke against imposing the full ban on the participation of intermediaries in procurement. In many cases a manufacturer can save, thanks to them, on sales and transport costs, promotion expenses,” Dmitry Krutoi said.
Dmitry Krutoi noted that throughout the sovereign history of Belarus, the country has been dealing with unreasonable mediation, and the country is not unique in this regard. “All the countries of the world, even the most developed and advanced ones, have to deal with this problem. There are no universal recipes how to solve it,” the official said.
The first deputy prime minister highlighted a certain trend. Earlier intermediaries were actively involved in the supply of Belarusian products to foreign export markets. “Corruption was most common in distribution networks and external receivables,” Dmitry Krutoi said.
In recent years, the bulk of corruption has moved into domestic procurement with the help of proprietary and budgetary funds, primarily from state organizations. This issue has been highlighted by the General Prosecutor's Office, the KGB, the State Control Committee.
The government has done some work to amend the legislation. “On 1 July last year, the wide-ranging amendments to the main law on public procurement came into force,” Dmitry Krutoi said.
