Belarus’ State Control Committee assesses scale of unjustified intermediation

MINSK, 15 March (BelTA) - The State Control Committee of Belarus initiated 71 criminal cases related to unjustified intermediation in 2025, Chairman of the State Control Committee of Belarus Vasily Gerasimov told Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned.

“There are many instances. Last year, we opened 71 criminal cases. We sent over 1,200 notifications about unjustified intermediation to other law enforcement agencies. This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Vasily Gerasimov said.

According to him, unjustified intermediation is characteristic of various sectors. It exists in industry, agriculture, energy, and medicine. In other words, everywhere where large sums of money circulate. Sometimes this is also linked to a corruption component.

“We investigate each specific case. There are situations where an intermediary is objectively necessary. There are cases where a manufacturer sells only through dealers, for example. That too is a kind of intermediary. There are however more than enough glaring examples,” the head of the State Control Committee emphasized.

On 12 March, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko convened a meeting to consider measures to eliminate unjustified and unfair intermediation. As he noted, according to data from law enforcement and regulatory bodies, numerous offenses and abuses, including criminal ones, are detected every year involving intermediary structures in a wide range of sectors.

“We need to draw a clear line separating justified intermediation from unjustified intermediation,” Aleksandr Lukashenko demanded. “No one in the state is against a reasonable intermediary where it is objectively needed. But we will have a small number of areas left that will be under the control of either governors, or ministers, and the prime minister.”