MINSK, 12 April (BelTA) – A regular session of an expert council took place in the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament under the leadership of Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Natalya Kochanova. Improvement of regulations governing the provision and use of gratuitous (sponsor) aid was on the agenda, BelTA has learned.
The experts agreed that it is time to update the current procedures for granting and using sponsor aid while preserving the concept intact. Two main aspects were identified: the simplification of reception of sponsor aid and the expansion and clarification of the list of purposes the sponsor aid can be granted, received, and used for.
In particular, experts argued in favor of expanding the list with such goals as support for organizations, which take care of patriotic upbringing of children and young Belarusians, and support for activities meant to preserve the history of the Great Patriotic War. In this context Natalya Kochanova remarked that patriotic upbringing is of primary importance for ensuring the country's social and economic development.
Close attention was paid to the legal mechanisms designed to suppress the reception of monetary assets for purposes, which represent a threat to national security or damage public and/or state interests.
Sergei Anyukhovsky, a member of the Economy, Budget and Finance Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, said that industrial enterprises regularly provide sponsor aid to education and healthcare institutions.
The senator stressed that sponsored organizations are assigned to every enterprise in in an oblast or a city. They apply for various kinds of aid in accordance with the arrangement. Aid can be received as money or free equipment. Every enterprise has an owner. The matter of sponsor aid has to be authorized by the supervisory board. Then a sponsor aid agreement is signed and sponsor aid is provided. Today's legal limit for sponsor aid is 1% of net profit, Sergei Anyukhovsky clarified.
