Since its foundation, for 97 years the prosecutor's offices of the Republic of Belarus have continuously confirmed their special purpose in ensuring the rule of law, strengthening legality and public order.

Every day, making the most of knowledge and experience, without counting personal time, prosecutors of cities and districts of the region ensure the strengthening of legality and the observance of public order in the entrusted territories, engaging in crime prevention, fighting corruption, supporting state prosecution in criminal cases in courts, carrying out serious effective supervisory work in all spheres of life, raising the level of legal culture of the population of Vitebsk.

The main task of a prosecutor is to see the problem, uncover its causes and take exhaustive measures to eliminate shortcomings, thereby restoring the violated rights of citizens and the state, protecting their lawful interests.

The regional supervisory authority systematically implements organizational‑practical measures to combat corruption in various spheres.

Prosecutors have stopped numerous violations that create conditions for corruption in procurement, both from budget funds and from the own funds of enterprises and organizations, identified isolated violations of income and property declaration procedures by certain categories of state officials, and non‑compliance with anti‑corruption restrictions.

According to supervisory activities this year, the regional prosecutor's offices have introduced more than 120 supervisory acts due to identified violations of anti‑corruption legislation. At the request of prosecutors, more than 180 officials have been held accountable, including disciplinary – over 140, administrative – over 25 (mostly procurement and declaration violations), material – 17.

Both in 2018 and now prosecutors promptly stop enterprises and organizations from conducting procurement procedures with violations of anti‑corruption legislation, canceling illegal procedures.

For example, in 2018 at the request of prosecutors 4 procurement procedures were canceled, 3 of which were funded by the local budget. As a result, spending (with legal violations) of state funds amounting to over 160 thousand rubles was prevented.

This year, at the request of the Polotsk District prosecutor, a state procurement procedure of the Polotsk district education department was canceled, preventing the spending of budget funds in violation of the law in the amount of 129 000 rubles, and the responsible official was held disciplinarily accountable.

Furthermore, following the prosecutor's submission regarding violations of procurement legislation using own funds, entered into the UP “Polotsk Poultry Farm”, members of the procurement commission (9 officials) were brought to disciplinary responsibility, and the cancellation of the procurement prevented the misuse of the enterprise's own funds in the amount of 402 000 rubles.

A great amount of work has been done by prosecutors in the field of protecting the rights of minors and youth.

Practice shows that the supervisory authority must not only check preventive subjects but also take measures that positively affect the state of legality, helping families and children.

On the initiative of the regional prosecutor's office, the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies adopted a decision on additional measures for social support of students last year.

According to this decision, students of general secondary and vocational schools in the region are entitled to free travel on public passenger transport from September 1 to June 30.

In the 2018/2019 academic year this decision was successfully implemented in the region; students have the right to free travel not only to their place of study and back home, but also to places of additional employment, sports, culture, etc. These social support measures allowed greater involvement of children in additional activities, thus effectively influencing the prevention of their unlawful behavior.

Over many years of child protection practice there have been significant cases where joint efforts of law‑enforcement and other interested bodies helped children.

For example, there was experience of the prosecutor's office working together with the KGB department of Vitebsk Region, when as a result of supervisory inspection a child's export abroad for a reward was prevented, measures were taken to cancel a fictitious adoption, a criminal case was initiated. The child now lives safely in a foster family.

Also, during prosecutor's accompaniment a child was urgently removed from a family because, for religious reasons, the parents did not allow a blood transfusion operation for their minor child, which could have led to a fatal outcome. The state approved the operation, and the child was saved.

Prosecutors also focus on issues of housing rights of minors.

Thus, the regional prosecutor, in the interests of minor children, appealed to the court with a claim to recognize invalid a donation agreement of a residential premises, according to which a three‑room well‑maintained apartment owned by their mother was alienated by her as security for a loan. The other children had no housing and remained in a socially dangerous situation. The court declared the transaction invalid and restored the children's rights to the dwelling.

Such examples from the practice of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office can be cited further.

Recently, the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office has significantly intensified work on protecting the rights of persons with limited abilities.

Local authorities have identified the problem of implementing the rights of persons with disabilities to an accessible barrier‑free environment, requiring measures to equip buildings with ramps, handrails for wheelchair users, etc.

For example, at the request of prosecutors the ramp at the “Kopeechka” grocery store near the GUSO “Vitebsk Home‑Internat for the Elderly and Disabled” was modified, equipped with a ramp and railings, access to the building of the comprehensive reception point in the Tarasenkі village of the Vitebsk district was ensured, and proper operation of lifting platforms for delivering persons with limited abilities to the footbridge of the Vitebsk railway station was provided.

The interests of the older generation, senior citizens of the region, are not ignored.

Thus, following a prosecutor's claim, the court also recognized invalid a donation agreement of an apartment, according to which an elderly woman in need of assistance gave her apartment to an unfamiliar citizen. The latter registered ownership, renovated, brought furniture, but later, failing to care for the donor, placed the woman in a district hospital as a solitary person needing care. The transaction, made under mistaken belief, was declared invalid, and the elderly woman's rights were restored.

It should be noted that the effectiveness of the supervisory authority also influences the social and economic development of the region.

Regular checks of compliance with legislation in the economic sphere are carried out, including during the implementation of state programs, investment and innovation projects.

Special control is exercised over the reduction of overdue external debtor arrears and the return of foreign earnings to the country. In economic courts, to protect the property interests of state‑owned legal entities, prosecutors have filed 12 lawsuits for the recovery of 73.7 thousand Belarusian rubles, 63.2 million Russian rubles, 93.4 thousand euros.

Prosecutor's response measures ensured the actual inflow of foreign earnings to the country in the amount equivalent to 1.5 million Belarusian rubles. Against the director of a Russian commercial organization, the regional prosecutor's office initiated 3 criminal cases for the formation of overdue debtor arrears before Belarusian exporters.

During supervision of tax legislation compliance this year, significant attention was paid to analyzing compliance by local executive and administrative bodies with normative legal acts regulating local taxes and fees, in particular the dog ownership tax.

Prosecutor's response measures contributed to the establishment of registration and accounting of domestic animals, correct determination of taxable objects, timely and full transfer of tax to the budget, and activation of work with debtors.

The positive effect was brought by work aimed at solving strategic issues of preservation and disposal of property in the agro‑industrial complex of the region.

Regular field visits by prosecutors study issues of ensuring a complex of organizational‑technological measures during the production of main field works, soil processing and crop cultivation, organization and conduct of works during sowing and harvesting campaigns, feed preparation. Checks of the restoration and preservation of livestock are also carried out. Control over the restoration, repair, operating conditions of agricultural machinery is established, reasons for non‑restoration, breakdowns of machines and responsible persons are identified.

It should be noted that after the intervention of the prosecutor's offices, almost all identified violations by enterprises and local authorities are eliminated, and measures are taken to restore order at the objects.

It is hard to overestimate the efforts of the Vitebsk prosecutor's office in protecting citizens' rights, especially labor and social rights, where we truly play a very important role.

Thus, to solve the pressing problem of wage arrears, the full set of legally established prosecutor's response measures has been applied.

It is pleasing to note that if on 01.01.2019 the region counted 70 enterprises with wage arrears, now we deal only with isolated cases of delayed wage payments (as of 01.06.2019 – 3 organizations).

Prosecutors of Vitebsk pay increased attention to occupational injury issues.

Measures taken by the supervisory body have contributed to increased responsibility of officials of state bodies, improving the quality of their inspections and monitoring. As a result, from January to May 2019, the region as a whole saw a decrease in the number of serious and fatal occupational accidents from 45 to 41 cases.

Practice shows that often, thanks to the intervention of prosecutor's offices, long‑standing problems affecting public safety are solved.

Through the active position of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, the issue of closing traffic on the emergency overpass “Polotsk” in Vitebsk and its reconstruction was solved. Currently the overpass is being dismantled, and parallel work on building a new bridge is underway.

Prosecutors also monitor compliance with construction deadlines of multi‑apartment residential buildings. By the end of 2018, there were 4 such objects in Vitebsk Region, with construction readiness not exceeding 50% for some, and some had been under construction for over 10 years.

The regional prosecutor's office has taken appropriate response measures and currently only 1 out of 4 long‑term construction projects has not been commissioned, which is at the final stage of construction (about 93% ready).

These examples are the result of truly massive and effective work to strengthen legality and public order in the region.

On the eve of the professional holiday, it is a good occasion to thank the people who stand daily on the guard of the interests of the person and the state: current prosecutors and veterans who have made a huge contribution to strengthening legality and public order in the Vitebsk Region, passing on their experience to the younger generation.

I wish prosecutors to remain at the forefront of events, demonstrate high professionalism, reasonable initiative, without reducing effectiveness at work. Most importantly, as before, not to remain indifferent to others' misfortune.

May the honorable title of reliable Guardians of the Law give you energy and vitality to effectively solve professional tasks for the benefit of native Vitebsk.