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Belarusian Soros Foundation (fwd)

Sad news for debate in Belarusia - to demand $3 million from a non-profit 
is to sentence it to death.  Details below.

Better news from Estonia and <UkraineV  debate is thriving!  I'm still in 
Tallinn, but expect a longer travel journal from me as soon as I have a 
faster internet connection at my disposal.

Ken


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 12:14:13 +-300
From: Natasha Plekhanova <plekhanova@bsf.minsk.by>
To: "'debate-l@main2.osi.hu'" <debate-l@main.osi.hu>
Subject: Belarusian Soros Foundation



Urgent! For immediate distribution!

BELARUSIAN AUTHORITIES DEMAND THREE MILLION DOLLAR PAYMENT FROM THE 
BELARUSIAN SOROS FOUNDATION

Minsk, April 29, 1997
The latest step aimed at taking reprisals against the Belarusian Soros 
Foundation came on April 29, 1997. The Foundation was submitted a document 
signed by the head tax inspector of the Belarusian State Tax Committee 
which stated the results of the inspection. According to this document, the 
Belarusian Soros Foundation must pay fines amounting to almost $3 million 
US dollars.

The Foundation is accused of a whole host of contraventions it is alleged 
to have committed during its period of charitable activities, including 
making profit. It is hard to say how these accusations would appear from a 
legal point of view, since there is simply no legislation regulating the 
activity of charitable organisations in Belarus. Obviously, that is why the 
Foundation was verified according to identical criteria as those applied 
while inspecting commercial organisations.

These allegations are more than absurd from a common sense point of view. A 
non-governmental organisation funded by a private individual has been 
requested to pay the state a sum equal to half its annual budget (in 1996, 
the Belarusian Soros Foundation expended approximately $6 million on the 
implementation of various programs).

Is it really true that our support for Belarusian hospitals, schools, youth 
organisations, kindergartens, higher educational establishments, libraries, 
academic institutions, environmental organisations, museums, theatres, 
creative groups and research centres was of no benefit to the country and 
its people? Over the four years the Foundation has been in existence, the 
support it provided came to $13 million.

No doubt the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus could answer 
this question more fully, since it was they who issued two resolutions in 
1995 to exempt Belarusian Soros Foundation grants from taxation. However, 
as it turned out, even such high-level documents were insufficient to 
protect the Foundation from fines.

The Belarusian Soros Foundation refutes the accusations which have been 
made against it and intends to protest at the main provisions of the 
inspection's findings within the allotted five days.

The Belarusian Soros Foundation's Information and Public Relations 
Department
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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