Yarmoshyna: “There is nothing else to do! I will refuse to accept presents as a woman”
The head of the Central Election Commission eats presents together with colleagues. As a state official, Syarhei Haidukevich does not accept presents but asks to deliver them to the office of his party where he can accept them as the leader of the LDPB. The deputy Minister of Economy only received one present at work – a ball. The press secretary of the Belarusian President Pavel Lyohki does not know what the leader of the state does with his presents. Deputies are planning to adopt a law forbidding state employees to accept presents costing more than 175 thousand roubles in March. If the present costs less then they will be able to keep it, otherwise it will be confiscated by the state. ERB decided to find out what kind of presents state officials received and what they did with them.
The head of the Central Election Commission Lіdzіya Yarmoshyna complained to ERB that they did not have a room for a museum of presents. So if they are presented candies they eat them while pictures, vases and carpets are used to decorate the building of the Central Election Commission or are given away as presents to other people.
Lіdzіya Yarmoshyna: “Presents are used in two ways. If they are edible, like candies, they are eaten together with colleagues. If we are presented pictures, table-cloths or some hand-made gifts, they are used by the Election Committee. We put flowers in vases and place pictures on the walls. Or we present them to other people. We have to make trips rather often”.
According to her, she will be happy if deputies adopt such a law: they will not have to think where to collect money for presents - flowers will be enough. And it will be easy to refuse expensive gifts. Even if they are offered to her as a woman and not as the head of the commission.
Lіdzіya Yarmoshyna: “There is nothing else to do! I will refuse to accept them as a woman. I will say that I am the head of the commission first of all. I will be a woman when they make me retire. However, I’ll be a granny then”.
The deputy Minister of Economy Andrei Tur admitted that he only received birthday presents. He was presented a ball in the ministry.
Andrei Tur: “Only birthday presents. But I do not consider them presents to an official. I was given some ball once. It is stored in my wardrobe”.
The leader of the LDPB Syarhei Haidukevich surprised ERB when he claimed that making presents to people who were more famous than a minister or even a prime minister was not common practice.
Syarhei Haidukevіch: “I am not a minister or a prime minister – I am much more important. I do not know a state official who would be comparable to me in Belarus. Believe it or not – nobody has even tryed to give me presents!”
However, it turned out that this misunderstanding was applicable only to Haidukevich as an official.
Syarhei Haidukevіch: “There is no problem if I am a party leader! I received a lot of presents and some of them were quite expensive”.
He also explained the way of differentiating between an official and a party leader.
Syarhei Haidukevіch: “Come to the office of my party and I will accept your present as a party leader. I am a party leader and not an official there”.
Surprisingly, according to the press secretary Vyachaslau Ramenchyk, the Minister of Defense Leanid Maltsau has never received weapons as presents. The majority of presents were souvenirs in the military style. The Minister collects them in a special museum created in the Ministry.
Vyachaslau Ramenchyk: “They usually present souvenirs symbolizing the country our guests come from or the country we are visiting. The majority of them are in the military style”.
However, the leader of the state Alyaksandr Lukashenka does not have a special museum for presents. The head of his press service Pavel Lyohki admitted it talking to ERB. He confessed that he did not know what happened to presents given to the President.
Pavel Lyohkі: “I have never asked about it. Generally speaking, nobody has even asked such questions since I started working here. I really do not know”.
According to the press secretary, the President is also a law-abiding official. However, it will be necessary to consult lawyers to find out whether he has to refuse expensive presents.
Pavel Lyohki: “The President is also a law-abiding state official. There is no doubt. However, it is necessary to consult lawyers about it”.
He also promised to suggest creating a museum of presents for the head of the state.
The former head of the National Bank Stanislau Bahdankevich used to receive pictures from colleagues and commemorative coins from representatives of other National Banks. He said that he has the pictures at home while the coins are both at home and in the National Bank’s museum. The presents that stuck to his memory were a watermelon presented by the head of the Turkmenian Bank and cognac from the head of the Georgian Bank.
Stanіslau Bahdankevіch: “The Turkmenian President sent me a very sweet watermelon. It stuck to my memory forever. There are no such watermelons in Belarus or in Ukraine. Georgians presented a collection of cognacs. The National Bank of Georgia. I remember a piece from Armenia. But is it a present?! You just drink it and that’s it!”
If the law is adopted, deputies will have to give expensive presents to the state. However, deputies have not said what will happen to such presents afterwards.
The head of the Central Election Commission Lіdzіya Yarmoshyna complained to ERB that they did not have a room for a museum of presents. So if they are presented candies they eat them while pictures, vases and carpets are used to decorate the building of the Central Election Commission or are given away as presents to other people.
Lіdzіya Yarmoshyna: “Presents are used in two ways. If they are edible, like candies, they are eaten together with colleagues. If we are presented pictures, table-cloths or some hand-made gifts, they are used by the Election Committee. We put flowers in vases and place pictures on the walls. Or we present them to other people. We have to make trips rather often”.
According to her, she will be happy if deputies adopt such a law: they will not have to think where to collect money for presents - flowers will be enough. And it will be easy to refuse expensive gifts. Even if they are offered to her as a woman and not as the head of the commission.
Lіdzіya Yarmoshyna: “There is nothing else to do! I will refuse to accept them as a woman. I will say that I am the head of the commission first of all. I will be a woman when they make me retire. However, I’ll be a granny then”.
The deputy Minister of Economy Andrei Tur admitted that he only received birthday presents. He was presented a ball in the ministry.
Andrei Tur: “Only birthday presents. But I do not consider them presents to an official. I was given some ball once. It is stored in my wardrobe”.
The leader of the LDPB Syarhei Haidukevich surprised ERB when he claimed that making presents to people who were more famous than a minister or even a prime minister was not common practice.
Syarhei Haidukevіch: “I am not a minister or a prime minister – I am much more important. I do not know a state official who would be comparable to me in Belarus. Believe it or not – nobody has even tryed to give me presents!”
However, it turned out that this misunderstanding was applicable only to Haidukevich as an official.
Syarhei Haidukevіch: “There is no problem if I am a party leader! I received a lot of presents and some of them were quite expensive”.
He also explained the way of differentiating between an official and a party leader.
Syarhei Haidukevіch: “Come to the office of my party and I will accept your present as a party leader. I am a party leader and not an official there”.
Surprisingly, according to the press secretary Vyachaslau Ramenchyk, the Minister of Defense Leanid Maltsau has never received weapons as presents. The majority of presents were souvenirs in the military style. The Minister collects them in a special museum created in the Ministry.
Vyachaslau Ramenchyk: “They usually present souvenirs symbolizing the country our guests come from or the country we are visiting. The majority of them are in the military style”.
However, the leader of the state Alyaksandr Lukashenka does not have a special museum for presents. The head of his press service Pavel Lyohki admitted it talking to ERB. He confessed that he did not know what happened to presents given to the President.
Pavel Lyohkі: “I have never asked about it. Generally speaking, nobody has even asked such questions since I started working here. I really do not know”.
According to the press secretary, the President is also a law-abiding official. However, it will be necessary to consult lawyers to find out whether he has to refuse expensive presents.
Pavel Lyohki: “The President is also a law-abiding state official. There is no doubt. However, it is necessary to consult lawyers about it”.
He also promised to suggest creating a museum of presents for the head of the state.
The former head of the National Bank Stanislau Bahdankevich used to receive pictures from colleagues and commemorative coins from representatives of other National Banks. He said that he has the pictures at home while the coins are both at home and in the National Bank’s museum. The presents that stuck to his memory were a watermelon presented by the head of the Turkmenian Bank and cognac from the head of the Georgian Bank.
Stanіslau Bahdankevіch: “The Turkmenian President sent me a very sweet watermelon. It stuck to my memory forever. There are no such watermelons in Belarus or in Ukraine. Georgians presented a collection of cognacs. The National Bank of Georgia. I remember a piece from Armenia. But is it a present?! You just drink it and that’s it!”
If the law is adopted, deputies will have to give expensive presents to the state. However, deputies have not said what will happen to such presents afterwards.
