Meeting with Taxes and Duties Minister Sergei Nalyvaiko, Chairman of State Control Committee Vasily Gerasimov

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Taxes and Duties Minister Sergei Nalyvaiko and Chairman of the State Control Committee Vasily Gerasimov on 19 August.

"I have invited you to discuss the issues within your purview. Many will say that we do not have enough money in the budget and hence we raise the tax issues. These are routine statements of the opposition. This is absolutely not true. It is surprising, but the budget looks better than we thought, and better than it could be," the Belarusian leader said.

"But that doesn't mean we should ignore the fundamental issues. Tax payment is a must," the head of state added.

“Paying taxes is a must. I very often cited other states as an example, the so-called democratic countries like the United States and others, where tax evasion is viewed as one of the most serious crimes. Maybe this is why these countries are rich. In fact, every person over there does not even think of evading taxes or bypassing tax laws. They would rather pay in advance to avoid any questions,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that many instructions had already been given to improve tax administration and now it is time to review the progress: “We have seen something and learned our lesson, especially last year. An instruction was given to improve tax legislation. Now the question is how this process is going.”

The President emphasized that people should understand what for and how much they need to pay, thus everything should be as easy as possible. “One should not need to have a degree in further mathematics to be able to calculate taxes. Therefore, it is necessary to keep streamlining tax legislation,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Businessmen should not try to cover up machinations and violations of the law by going into politics, the President said at the meeting.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “I would like to raise the issue today. Judging by last year's lessons we've recently seen who is who and have started harshly demanding the payment of taxes and the normal behavior of simple businessmen. I don't mean that a businessperson has no rights and has no right to an opinion of their own. Absolutely not. But I've always emphasized and I think smart businessmen heard me that politics and business are different things.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that the law cannot accommodate every eventuality and there are different laws both in politics and business. “Any businessman, who wants to pursue politics, should rigorously observe the law. Politicians and businessmen should observe laws. But if someone steals things as it often happens (and we know examples) and then goes into politics to cover it all up and blame the government if something happens by claiming he is an honest businessman and faces accusations only because of his political career… Some current prisoners behaved like that. Such things will be definitely stopped. And you shouldn't take offense with the authorities,” the President stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that he had previously studied Vladimir Lenin's works, who said that a government is worth something if it knows how to protect itself. “But I can add that a government is worth something only if it can protect itself and its people,” he stressed. “The government is not a revolving door, with people coming and going all the time. It is a very serious matter. It is the state, people, millions of people. This is why businessmen need to clearly understand it.”

“I'd like to emphasize one more time: it does not mean that businessmen, heads of companies are forbidden to pursue a political career. That's what elections are for. Go, fight, and be incorruptible. Live the life in a way so that you couldn't be accused of anything. There is this guy with pictures and the rest. He stole millions of U.S. dollars and went to the polls. It is understandable why. He needed to cover it all up. Now it is obvious that all of it was thieving,” the President stated.

“This is why people with clean hands should pursue a political career,” the Belarusian leader concluded.

“We have recently increased our focus on tax administration, tax compliance. I want you to go hard on tax evaders without hurting law-abiding businesses. Once I promised them that all our agreements will be honored in line with the law,” the Belarusian leader said.

“Not a single hair should fall from an entrepreneur who respects the law. We should support bona fide businesses. These are people who work for the state and serve its interests. There is only one thing: taxes must be paid, employees must be treated well,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

At the same time, the head of state warned against taking action against businesses on far-fetched grounds. “We should no way crack down on them, although some self-employed entrepreneurs, IT specialists and others acted disgustingly. We cannot just punish them for nothing. We should not look for reasons, pretexts and so on. Let them work in line with the law. However, if they break the law, they will be held to account to the fullest,” the Belarusian leader added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “I would like businessmen to hear me saying that nobody is going to settle a score with them. Some made mistakes. Some went astray. Some misunderstood some things. It is necessary to make things clear for them. I am even ready to do it at my own level if you find an appropriate form. But we should welcome those, who honestly worked in Belarus, and those, who would like to start working here, as our people, who create value for the nation and the state. Overreactions are out of the question. I don't see any overreactions and I want none in the future.”

“One thing needs to be understood: the state and the people are everything, all of us should work for the sake of it. If someone fails to understand it, it is their problem,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

“You can't line up your own pockets while people working for you struggle financially. Ahead of the election, I suggested setting the minimum average salary and formalizing it for business, private entities. They can pay more but never below the average salary. Business strongly opposed the idea unwilling to give the money. But these are the people who work for you, who bring you money. Roughly speaking, you cannot pay 10% to your workers and pocket the remaining 90%. No one needs such a business," the head of state said.

In this regard, he cited China's policy as an example. "The Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, said that the rich should help the poor. It is about sharing: you have earned a lot, then help the poor. The goal is a middle-class society. They announced this thesis recently. The Chinese are a wise nation, a richest country. Meanwhile, we have always pursued this policy: if you make good money, you should pay people who work for you well and pay taxes," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.