MINSK, 16 January (BelTA) – The expenses for the elections to local councils of deputies in 2018 were reduced by 10%, representatives of Belarus' Central Election Commission (CEC) noted at the session of the commission on 16 January, BelTA informs.
In particular, the CEC discussed a resolution to review the estimated expenses for the 2018 elections to local councils of deputies of the 28th convocation. In accordance with the law of 31 December 2017, the expenses for the 2018 local elections were cut by 10% (in relation to the draft of the same law, on the basis of which the estimates were made in November 2017). Earlier on, the election expenses were approved in the amount of Br21,491,000.
A decision was taken to cut the expenses for stationery, transport and communication services, and official trips. The wages have been reduced by 5.5% on the average (for all election commissions). For instance, members of precinct election commissions will get Br67 on the election day (after-tax) as against Br69 envisaged in the previous version of the budget.
Thus, according to the updated estimates, the local elections will cost slightly more than Br19,386,000.
The local elections in Belarus are scheduled for 18 February. More than 18,000 members of the local councils will be elected out of the 22,713 people vying for seats on the local councils of deputies.
