No more foreign cash. Prokopovi.ch blocked

The General Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus issued a ruling restricting access to a popular website offering currency exchange services.

“The General Prosecutor’s Office has issued a ruling restricting access to an Internet resource, which promotes illegal currency exchange transactions,” Pavel Radzovonau, the head of the department for control over fulfillment of legislation and legal norms of the General Prosecutor’s Office, told journalist on Thursday.

He added that in accordance with the Belarusian legislation access to the site was restricted for governmental agencies and organizations as well as for educational and cultural institutions.

“The site owners provided an opportunity, in violation of the law, to carry out currency transactions at a voluntary established exchange rate. […] The activity has become organized: we have systematic spreading information on the Internet about cash purchase, sale and conversion,” Radzivinau noted.

“The exchange rate differs significantly from that set by exchange offices. The propaganda of the activity, which is carried out in violation of the law, is illegal and subject to termination,” he added. The General Prosecutor’s Office is also going to check other similar facts of spreading information on illegal currency transactions via the Internet.

According to Radzivonau, the prosecutor’s office is working to identify the persons, who organized the website, which is registered outside the national segment of the Internet. He reminded that illegal currency exchange is punished with a fine of up to 100 basic units and seizure of an item of the illegal deal.

He reminded that access to 20 Internet resources spreading pornography and information regarding sex-related services was restricted in Belarus last year. This year, access to websites Charter’97 and “Belorusski Partizan” was restricted.