OREANDA-NEWS. March 31, 2014. President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has held a session to discuss ways to improve insurance services in Belarus.

“I am told that unscrupulous businessmen now offer foreign insurance services to Belarusians and thus drain the country’s foreign currency. It is a direct violation of the law! But these businessmen have been dodging responsibility for years now! How can that be?” wondered the President.

“Let me make it clear: we need constant oversight of financial flows. We cannot allow foreign currency to leave the country! And we cannot allow certain businessmen pocket the money they don’t practically own and must not own,” said the head of state.

According to auditing and law enforcement agencies, the Belarusian insurance industry is susceptible to serious risks of malpractices, noted Alexander Lukashenko. As an example the President mentioned the last year’s case of the Belarusian People’s Insurance Pension Fund. “A private insurance company earned billions of rubles as super profits for its shareholders by exploiting successful state-owned enterprises! Certainly, things were straightened out after I interfered. But it prompted a more critical review of insurance oversight. This is why relevant instructions have been given to the State Control Committee and the Finance Ministry,” noted Alexander Lukashenko.

A presidential decree has been drafted to improve the legal regulation of insurance business. The President brought it up for discussion during the session.