Modern features of currency regulation in the Republic of Belarus

Settlements between residents on the territory of the Republic of Belarus in Belarusian rubles are made without restrictions, and between legal entities, as a rule, in a non-cash manner. The use of foreign currencies and payment documents expressed in them for settlements between resident legal entities on the territory of the Republic of Belarus is prohibited, with the exception of legislatively fixed cases, among which the following can be distinguished:

when calculating between exporters and transport, insurance and / or forwarding organizations for the delivery of goods to a foreign buyer; calculations of importers with transport, insurance and forwarding organizations for services for the delivery of goods to domestic ports, at border railway stations, cargo warehouses and customer terminals; when calculating for transit export-import transportation of goods; settlements related to obtaining a commercial or bank loan in foreign currency and its repayment, as well as during operations on the purchase / sale of foreign currency in the domestic foreign exchange market.

All calculations between residents in foreign currency are produced on the basis of an agreement concluded between them in those currencies that are indicated in contracts concluded with foreign counterparties.

Resident legal entities have the right to buy and sell currency in the domestic foreign exchange market in the manner and for purposes determined by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus. The purchase and sale of foreign currency is carried out only through authorized banks – these are banks that have received a license from the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus for foreign exchange transactions. These banks carry out transactions on behalf of their clientele for the purchase and sale of foreign currency, either through the interbank currency and stock exchange, or directly among themselves. The purchase and sale of foreign currency, bypassing authorized banks, is prohibited.

Foreign currency can be acquired by business entities in the foreign exchange market of the Republic of Belarus for settlements on various transactions. For example, for:

purchases from non-residents of goods and services, intellectual property rights, settlements on which are carried out on conditions without delay in payment and do not provide for the attraction or provision of borrowed funds in foreign currency; making current payments for the payment of interest and principal debt on borrowed funds raised; payment of travel expenses; payment of expenses for training specialists abroad, etc.

For violation of the norms of currency legislation, economic sanctions are applied to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs of the Republic of Belarus. So for:

unauthorized exceeding of the terms of foreign trade operations – in the amount of up to 2 percent of cash not received on time (costs of goods not received on time, work not completed, services not provided) for each day of exceeding the term, but not more than the amount of the indicated funds not received within the established period (costs of goods not received within the established period of time, not completed work, services not provided); excess of the amount of transferred funds for import (cost of shipped goods, work performed, export services provided) in comparison with the contractual value of the goods received, work performed, services provided (the amount of cash received) – in the amount of the difference between them; export of goods (works, services) paid by Belarusian rubles for a non-resident – in the amount of up to 100 percent of the amount of these funds; unauthorized disposal of funds from the export of goods (works, services) without crediting to your account – in the amount of the amount of funds not received in your account; presentation of false information when issuing a license or other permits for the import (export) of goods, a transaction passport, statistical declaration or periodic statistical declaration or making changes and (or) additions to the contract during its execution without reflecting these changes in the transaction passport within the established time frame – in the amount of up to 20 percent the contract value of exported (imported) goods; violation of the established procedure for conducting foreign trade operations: lack of a license or other permits, a transaction passport, a statistical declaration or a periodic statistical declaration issued in cases established by law, – in the amount of up to 100 percent of the value of exported (imported) goods, work performed, services provided; failure to submit a statistical declaration or periodic statistical declaration on time –

in the amount of up to 10 percent of the value of exported (imported) goods; misuse of foreign currency funds acquired in the domestic foreign exchange market for Belarusian rubles, –

in the amount of up to 100 percent of the amount of funds used for other purposes; misuse and (or) non-refund of funds in foreign currency issued on time, including for payment of expenses on business trips outside the Republic of Belarus – up to 10 times the amount of these funds.