KGB Conducted Unprecedented Mass Detentions Of Health Ministry Officials

There is information about an arrest of a general close to Lukashenka.

More than ten people were detained in the course of the largest in the history of independent Belarus anti-corruption KGB operation against officials of the Ministry of Health. Even a general, who was close to Lukashenka and "patronized" the officials, got under the KGB's blow, Ezhednevnik reports.

As it has been previously reported, a little more than a week ago, the KGB detained the director of RUE Center for Expertise and Testing of the Ministry of Health, Aliaksandr Staliarou. That was the beginning of a large-scale operation against corrupt officials, who had been literally sucking dry the country's healthcare system over the past ten years. We are talking about delivering equipment to the Belarusian medical institutions not only at inflated prices, but also following money laundering schemes, without appropriate certificates or with certificates issued by the Center for Expertise and Testing in the result of collusive corruption.

The Center for Expertise and Testing itself was a part of the scheme, at the top of which there were people most influential in Belarus. Therefore, as Ezhednevnik reported, Aliaksandr Staliarou’s detention became a kind of launching pad for a major offensive not even against a criminal group, but an organization, the scale of which is difficult to imagine.

According to Ezhednevnik, for the past week, the people, who were someways or other involved in holding tenders to purchase medical equipment, its supplies or certification, were actively brought to the KGB for questioning. Some of them returned home after the interrogations, and some went straight to the KGB pretrial detention center. According to preliminary data, which are not yet officially confirmed, at least 10 people were detained.

The Ministry of Health is tight-lipped and does not answer any questions on this issue. The KGB also does not speak, as the fate of some high-ranking officials is to be determined by Lukashenka. However, Ezhednevnik has managed to find out some details of the scandal.

Most of all people were detained in the UE Belmedtechnika of the Ministry of Health, which used to deal with the bulk of all tenders for the purchase of medical equipment. The only exception is the equipment that was purchased through tenders by various construction organizations when building new hospitals or modernizing old ones. However, here again the key role was played by Belmedtechnika, which in some way or other redressed the purchases. But no builders have been detained so far, as they immediately agreed to cooperate with the investigation, not wishing to pay for other people's sins.

According Ezhednevnik, the KGB has detained five people in the UE Belmedtechnika: two executives and three department heads involved in the procurement of equipment. A man, who was called the "gray cardinal" in Belmedtechnika, has been detained among them. He survived at least five directors and he settled all the issues related to the purchase of equipment.

Another person was detained in the Center for Expertise and Testing. He was a department head.

In the field of development, there was another "commercial" structure at the Ministry of Health, which is listed as a producer of medical equipment and which actively participated in deliveries to Belarusian medical institutions. The trick was that a lot of equipment was not actually produced there, but was bought from foreign, sometimes non-certified manufacturers and mispresented as Belarusian product. At the same time, the prices for such "Belarusian" equipment were seriously overestimated due to the fact that competing companies were eliminated using a simple scheme even before the tender. It is interesting that this structure is headed by the brother of a very influential security official, who enjoys, rather enjoyed, the high confidence of Lukashenka and has repeatedly received from his hands government awards. According to the KGB, it was he who provided the "roof" to corrupt officials and repeatedly thwarted attempts to launch an investigation into blatant facts that were reported to the prosecutor's office, the Investigatory Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to some reports, the general has already been detained. According to others, only his brother was detained, and Lukashenka still decides on the fate of the general.

One of the deputy ministers of health also appeared in the KGB's view, who, according to operative data, is at the top of the whole "foodchain". His partners in "business" were two former officers of the special services who, having left the service, organized a corrupt medical business.

Among the detainees are representatives of the three largest world corporations known to every person. However, it is still unclear whether it is about the heads of missions, or about commercial companies authorized to operate on the territory of Belarus on behalf of these corporations.

The Ministry of Health is now in shock, as is the entire market for the supply of medical equipment to Belarus. Experts call at least ten people among officials and businessmen, who, judging by the direction of the operational development of the KGB, should be detained in the near future. But it will not be key figures, but only participants in large-scale machinations with the supply of medical equipment. About all these frauds Ejednevnik wrote in a series of journalistic investigations about corruption in the Ministry of Health. However, judging by the number of detainees and the number of people who were already involved by the KGB anyway, official information on the case should be announced in the coming days.