Volha Smalianka: Anonymous donations have nothing in common with foreign aid

To eliminate the divergence between legal regulations and real practice of anonymous donations in Belarus one should exclude the latter from the notion of foreign free aid.

This opinion shared to the EuroBelarus Information Service the director of the Legal Transformation Centre “Lawtrend” Volha Smalianka.

This recommendation can also be found in the policy paper “Anonymous donations in Belarus: ways to enhance legal regulation”. The document was prepared by Volha Smalianka and the lawyer of the Assembly of Pro- Democratic NGOs of Belarus Yury Chavusau basing on the results of the legal research. This research was carried out in September-October of 2012 and was devoted to the ways to enhance legal regulation of anonymous donations in Belarus.

The problem of anonymous donations in Belarus is that domestic law rates anonymous donations as foreign grants. And in order to use them a registration in the state bodies as well as a special exemption from taxation procedure is required. There is administrative and criminal liability for breaking the established order. International practice of regulating financial aspects of charity doesn’t accept such harsh restrictions. The discrepancy between legal regulation of anonymous donations, real practices existing in the country and international standards requires reforms in the juridical sphere by means of depriving anonymous donations the status of foreign free donation, says the policy paper.

As Volha Smalianka says, anonymous donations and charity in Belarus are rather widespread today. For instance, fund-raising campaigns to operate ill children. Many shops and supermarkets have special boxes where donations for the “Republican association of wheelchair users”, public associations for animal protection and others come.

According to Belarusan legislation, anonymous donations are defined as foreign free aid. And foreign free aid is subject to registration in the Humanitarian Activities Department of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Belarus. But in reality organizations that get anonymous donations do not register them in the Department. It happens so that legal and natural persons who use anonymous fund-raising in their activity are considered as potential criminals, explains policy paper. “There is a contradiction between Belarusan legislation and the existing practice, when anonymous donations are regulated by the Decree No.24; however, the rules set up by this Decree are breeched everywhere”, - notes Volha Smalianka.

The easiest way to eliminate this contradiction is to exclude anonymous donations from the notion of the foreign free donation, amending the correspondent Decree No. 24 of the President of the Republic of Belarus “On the Receipt and Use of Free Foreign Aid”, believes Volha Smalianka. “We need it for the development of charity culture in our country as well as in order to make cheating with donations impossible and to establish unified practice of anonymous fund-raising. European countries orient their legislation at facilitation of donations. Anonymous donations do not stand out of the other kinds of donations and are not classified as foreign free aid there”.

The question of charity regulation in Belarus should be treated in complex, assumes Volha Smalianka. “For example, we could appoint the notion of anonymous donations in the legislative act on charity, which Belarus doesn’t have yet. It would also be good if the Ministry for Taxes and Duties gives its recommendations for noncommercial organizations on how to issue the anonymous donations so that the unified practice is observed throughout the country”, - says the director of the Legal Transformation Centre.