The Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of the Vitebsk Regional Court concerning the scandalous criminal case deputy district council and the director of "Verkhnedvinsk Creamery" Peter Lavrinova.

In March 2013 the Prosecutor's Office of the Vitebsk region opened a criminal case against the director of "Verkhnedvinsk Creamery", which also served as a deputy district council. The case is referred for investigation to the Investigation Committee, which as a result of the investigation showed people's deputies and the director of the enterprise charged with a crime under part 3 of Article 424 of the Belarusian Criminal Code (abuse of power or authority, entailing grave consequences).

According to the findings of the investigation, the director of "Verkhnedvinsk Creamery" from May to August 2010 because of personal interest "in the apparent absence of objective necessity and appropriateness for the company he heads for the purpose of artificially increasing the economic growth rate in production volumes organized mutual supply of milk between" Verhnedvinsky Creamery "and JSC" Polotsk Dairy Plant "."

How to calculate the result, the operation was carried out by a counter shipment to JSC "Polotsk Dairy Plant" received from him milk without actual shipping and receiving. This gave the company the opportunity to inflate the head of production volumes for the amount of 4.3 billion rubles (about $ 1.5 million at the exchange rate at the time) than Creamery has suffered losses worth about 170 million rubles in expenditures on transportation costs, unjustified calculation and payment of salaries and bonuses.

The materials of the criminal case was sent to the Vitebsk regional court, but he unexpectedly for prosecutors and the Investigative Committee acquitted. The Court considered that the wine director of the plant has not been proved, and presented during a meeting of the evidence can not indicate a "premeditated, against the interests of the service, committed by officials of other personal interest actions using their official powers, resulting in serious consequences." The court also refused to meet the civil action of "Verkhnedvinsk Creamery" to recover from the director of the damage suffered in the amount of 169.7 million rubles.

Prosecutors brought protest acquittal but the Supreme Court of Belarus, having considered all the arguments of the parties, decided that "contrary to the arguments of the totality of the protest studied in the hearing of evidence are acknowledged in the judgment." On this basis, the acquittal of the Vitebsk Regional Court upheld, and prosecutors dismissed the protest.

Given the record amount of fiddling that incriminated the director of "Verkhnedvinsk Creamery" and rarity of acquittals in Belarus, it is one of the greatest failures in the work of the Investigation Committee since its inception. Failure, which is very well demonstrated by the quality of investigations of this kind of criminal cases. In a puddle of village and prosecutors Vitebsk region, which not only initiated the corruption scandal, but also to support the accusation in court. That's just a question suffer anyone responsible for this and what conclusions of this story will make law enforcement agencies?

ej.by