Officials to be prohibited to communicate to press

Deputies of the House of Representatives prepare amendments and additions to some laws of the Republic of Belarus on questions of government services for the second reading.

The Standing Commission on State Building, Local Government and Regulation will consider the document on the session on 6 March.

The worked out regulation provides changing the law on Government Service and the Civil Code, the profile parliamentary commission explained. In particular, in accordance to the law On Anticorruption Efforts the question of receiving gifts by state officers is regulated. A state official can’t accept presents and other benefits for performance of his or her official duties, except novelties, giving at protocol or other official events. Presents with cost more than 5 basic units are used for public revenue on decision of a commission created by a head of a public body, where a state official works.

The draft law regulates the order and conditions of publications and speeches of state officials on matters concerning performing of their duties to prevent abuse in this sphere. So, the draft law provides that purposefulness of publications and speeches is determined by a head of a state body where a state official works. This law doesn’t extend to publications and speeches of the deputies of the “house of representatives” and heads of local Councils of Deputies.