Prosecutor General's Office to complete verification of lawfulness of special referendum account before October 5

1996-10-02 15:45

Minsk, 2 October. The Prosecutor General's Office is to complete verification of the lawfulness of the accumulation of public donations on a so-called Referendum '96 account before October 5. This verification was launched at the request of the Central Election Commission. Meanwhile money is continuing to be accumulated on this special account. According to Ivan Zayash, deputy minister of finance, as of October 1, there were 3,276 million rubels. The deputy minister announced that the Law on the 1996 State Budget "makes no provision for budget allocations for the referendum." That is why voluntary donations of legal entities and private persons will be used, which, according to Mr. Zayash, is in line with Article 9 of the Referendum Law.
Viktar Hanchar, chairman of the central election commission, stressed again that no special accounts had been set up for the referendum because the given account was opened as far back as January 1, 1996 to serve the state budget, and was marked "The Budget Revenue," according to Tamara Vinnikava, head of the National Bank. In spite of this and in violation of regulations, the Ministry of Finance sent explanations to the regional and Minsk city financial departments on the procedure of the transfer of funds intended for the referendum. At the central election commission's request made on September 25, the Prosecutor General's Office has started an investigation. Mr. Hanchar considers it possible that this matter will be discussed by the central election commission, the Control Chamber and the Prosecutor General's Office at a joint meeting to "come to an agreement about measures in response."
In the opinion of Mr. Hanchar, "the illegality of the establishment of this account and the accumulation of funds on it is obvious." In addition, he rejected the deputy minister's statement about the lawfulness of the ministry's accumulation of voluntary donations because this is the prerogative of the central election commission. Mr. Hanchar is sure that "these so-called voluntary donations will have to be given back to the organizations and people that made them."