Three audited consumer cooperatives in the Vitebsk region purchased agricultural products from resellers and engaged in falsification of records

April 13, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Three inspected district consumer cooperatives in the Vitebsk region purchased agricultural products from resellers and falsified the volume of purchases from the population of surplus agricultural products. These conclusions were made by the Polotsk inter-district committee after inspecting the activities of the Verkhnedvinsk, Miory, and Rossonsky district consumer cooperatives over the past two years, the press service of the Vitebsk Regional Control and Budget Committee informed BELTA. As established, the district consumer cooperatives failed to fulfill one of the main tasks of consumer cooperation – purchasing products grown by citizens on their land plots. None of the inspected district consumer cooperatives met the projected indicators for the growth rate of the volume of procurement turnover from the population. Moreover, as the inspection showed, the actual indicators were achieved by falsifying the volume of procurement turnover from the population through purchases from agricultural organizations and from citizens engaged in their resale to the district consumer cooperatives, thereby distorting state statistical reporting and unlawfully granting citizens benefits on income tax. For example, inspections revealed cases where procurement officers of district consumer cooperatives, when buying potatoes from agricultural and other organizations, drew up acceptance receipts as purchases from the population from individuals. For instance, a procurement officer of the Verkhnedvinsk district consumer cooperative drew up acceptance receipts for the purchase of 34.2 tons of potatoes worth Br20.5 million, allegedly from residents of the Braslav district. However, as it turned out, these potatoes were sold by a reseller who bought them from an agricultural enterprise at a price of Br500 per kg and resold them to the district consumer cooperative at a price of Br600 per kg. As a result, the dealer made illegal profits, and the budget lost Br2.5 million in taxes. In the Verkhnedvinsk and Rossonsky district consumer cooperatives, the practice of purchasing agricultural products from citizens using forged certificates was common. In this way, procurement officers of the Verkhnedvinsk district consumer cooperative purchased agricultural products worth a total of Br19.3 million from six citizens of the Radostovsky rural council of the Drogichinsky district of the Brest region. In the Rossonsky district consumer cooperative, acceptance receipts were drawn up for the purchase of 8 heads of cattle worth a total of Br13 million from four residents of the village of Yankovichi, Rossonsky district, and vegetables worth Br18 million from citizens of the Stolin district of the Brest region. The accounting documents contained photocopies of certificates from rural councils, based on which individuals were exempted from paying income tax. As established, the citizens indicated in the certificates are not registered or residing in the territories of the rural executive committees, the certificates were not requested or issued by them, and the specified addresses in the certificates do not exist. Moreover, the same photocopies of forged certificates were provided by agricultural product resellers to the Verkhnedvinsk, Miory, and Rossonsky district consumer cooperatives. According to the Drogichinsky district executive committee, the angular stamp of the Radostovsky rural council used on the certificates does not exist, and the imprint of the coat of arms seal is forged. Incidentally, fictitious certificates with such a stamp have been recorded for the last seven years. According to another scheme, procurement officers of these district consumer cooperatives purchased agricultural products from resellers, and documents were drawn up for citizens who sold their grown products to resellers at their place of residence or did not grow them at all. In the Rossonsky district consumer cooperative, 12 cases of agricultural product procurement worth Br99 million were established; in the Miory district consumer cooperative, 16 cases worth Br68 million. Of the 13 residents of the village of Bolshoye Maleshevo, Stolin district, Brest region, indicated in the procurement sheet for vegetables of the Verkhnedvinsk district consumer cooperative, only one citizen grew vegetables, which he sold in the village of Olshany, Brest region. Procurement officers of the Rossonsky and Verkhnedvinsk district consumer cooperatives documented the purchase of 29.2 tons of onions worth Br42.8 million from residents of the Ivye district of the Grodno region and the Polotsk district, who did not grow them at all. Procurement officers also did not shy away from falsifying certificates and altering the quantity of delivered products. In addition, they did not always indicate the volume of accepted products in the certificates for the sale of products grown by citizens, as established by law in the certificate form. Because of this, the district consumer cooperatives could not control the total volume of accepted products and calculate and withhold income tax. According to the employees of the Control and Budget Committee, the inspected district consumer cooperatives did not ensure control over the processing of documents and the authenticity of certificates, and over the issuance of funds to individuals specified in the certificates for the sale of grown products. By purchasing products from resellers, the district consumer cooperatives created conditions for individuals to receive illegal income, and employees of the procurement sector unlawfully granted them income tax benefits. As a consequence, procurement officers of the Verkhnedvinsk district consumer cooperative failed to withhold income tax from agricultural product suppliers in the amount of Br33.6 million, the Miory district consumer cooperative – in the amount of Br10.9 million, and the Rossonsky district consumer cooperative – in the amount of Br34.6 million, which is subject to transfer to the budget. For non-fulfillment or incomplete fulfillment of the obligation to withhold and transfer the tax amount, consumer cooperatives were brought to administrative responsibility in the amount of 20% of the amount subject to withholding and transfer. Cashiers of the district consumer cooperatives were brought to administrative responsibility for violating cash discipline. The inspection materials were sent to law enforcement agencies for legal assessment of the actions of officials and to the relevant district executive committees for response.-0-