Republic
27.09.2007
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made several personnel appointments on September 27. The presidential press service told BelTA, due to changes of the Belarusian border guard structure the head of state appointed:
Igor Anatolyevich Rachkovsky — Chairman of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus
Vadim Yuryevich Zaitsev — First Deputy Chairman of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, Chief of the Central Operations Department.
The President also appointed:
Oleg Borisovich Abyzov — Deputy Chairman of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, Chief of the Central Ideology and Human Resources Department
Yevgeny Vasilyevich Komarnitsky — Deputy Chairman of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, Chief of the Central Materiel Support Department
Andrei Georgiyevich Gorulko — Deputy Chairman of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus for Regulations and Organisational Support.
In line with the decree the President signed on September 25 the State Border Troops Committee of Belarus was renamed as the State Border Committee while border troops were renamed as border service agencies.
Addressing the newly appointed officers, Alexander Lukashenko underscored that the recent changes in the Belarusian border guard are designed to raise the level and quality of the state border protection, to provide an adequate response to modern threats and challenges.
“The Committee was not simply renamed. The border guard has been endowed with more authority to more effectively counteract negative phenomena and illegal actions at the border,” said the President.
Along with the protection of the national territorial integrity Alexander Lukashenko pointed out such functions of the border service as the protection of national economic interests and the assistance with the promotion of foreign trade relations.
According to the head of state, the Border Service should cooperate more tightly with the Customs in transit affairs.
Alexander Lukashenko underscored it was vital to observe rights and legal interests of people, who cross the border. “The border should not be a barrier to right-minded citizens of Belarus and visitors to our country. Actions of Border Service officers are sometimes used to make up an impression about the country,” he remarked.
Yet the Belarusian border should become a reliable roadblock to criminals, stated Alexander Lukashenko. The Belarusian section of the USSR border was the best one and it is necessary to uphold the high standard nowadays, said the President.
The President demanded that bribery, corruption and official malfeasance in the Border Service should be eradicated and severely suppressed. Alexander Lukashenko also drew attention to the importance of improving the training and education in the Border Service.
In his words, the Border Service should be in charge of coordinating border protection efforts of all law enforcement agencies. The personnel structure of the Border Service will have to be optimised, with more officers stationed directly at the border and fewer officers employed in administration or materiel support. However, the total number of the Border Service personnel will not change.
Chairman of the State Border Committee Igor Rachkovsky briefed the President about the progress in reforming the Border Service.
A concept is being developed in Belarus to regulate all aspects of the functioning of the State Border Committee in the next few years. The concept will be presented to the President this November.