On December, 14 the Chamber of Representatives adopted in the first reading the law on fighting corruption. According to BELTA, the vote was 76 to 9.

The document has been several times rejected by the deputies and directed back to the corresponding committee for revision. The current alterations finally satisfied the lawmakers. As for the novelties, the concept of “corruption” was reworded. As stated by the Attorney-General Piotr Mikłaševič, the previous wording “the acquisition of pecuniary and non-pecuniary benefits” is to be replaced for “the acquisition of other benefit in the form of services”. Besides, the range of persons, to whose favour the law-breaker acts, is not to be limited to the immediate relatives.  

The law draft comprises a range of additional criteria to determine the subject of corruption. The persons, occupying managerial and auditing posts are equated with state officials regardless of the state share in the enterprise. Thus, the law will be binding for almost all the private organisations.

The date of adoption is probably not incidental, for exactly on December, 14 the UN Convention against Corruption of October, 31 2004 came in force. 

The Convention lays down the norms, regulating measures forestalling corruption, fighting money-laundering, returning illegally gained and taken abroad profits. The convention stipulates for a special corruption-fighting body – the Conference of States. Belarus ratified the UN Convention against Corruption on November, 25 2004.