Supreme Court dismissed Lohvinau’s complaint

The book publisher and book shop owner filed a complaint against the ruling of the Information Ministry for its denial to register him as a distributor of printed goods.

Today Ihar Lohvinau, a book publisher, appealed the decision of the Information Ministry at the Supreme Court. The Information Ministry denied issuing a licence for dissemination of printed materials to him.

The Supreme Court dismissed his complaint, and thus the publisher will not receive the right to disseminate printed materials, Radio Svaboda reports.

Besides, he had to pay a fine of about Br1 billon for distribution of books without a licence.

We remind that the iconic intellectual address of the Belarusian capital turned to be in danger of disappearance in December 2014. An unscheduled tax audit came to Lohvinau bookshop in early December. They sealed the premises and seized documents for verification. After the inspection the bookshop was unsealed. But it was severely punished for working without the licence of the Information Ministry. Following the results of the audit the bookshop was fined nearly Br1 billion, that is the income from book sales for one year. This money will be recovered through court.

Photo: Radio Svaboda