The Presidential Edict No. 112, signed on March 27, 2024 adjusted the procedure for the provision and use of gratuitous (sponsor) aid, as previously established by Edict No. 300 of July 1, 2005.
Under this previous Edict, non-profit organisations could receive donations from Belarusian legal entities (commercial legal entities, other non-profit organisations, individual entrepreneurs) only for a closed list of objectives. This list did not contain legitimate objectives such as human rights, development of democracy, gender equality and others. In practice, CSOs could therefore not receive domestic donations for many goals stipulated in their charters.
The new procedure will come into force in six months. In the meantime, the government must prepare regulatory legal acts aimed at implementing numerous new provisions of the new version of Edict No. 300.
The change in the list of purposes for which business entities can provide gratuitous (sponsor) aid is essential for the financial sustainability of non-profit organisations. The lists of permitted and prohibited purposes for providing aid remain in place and were expanded in the new version of Edict No. 300. A new purpose was added to the list of allowed purposes for domestic funding:
- support for public associations (and unions of legal entities) aimed at achieving their statutory purposes.
This means that the legal scope of public associations’ activities, which can be funded by business entities, has significantly expanded.
This new regulation does not directly affect other forms of non-profit organisations, such as institutions or foundations. But the list of possible purposes established by the Edict also specifically mentions the purposes of supporting religious organisations, political parties, as well as supporting any non-profit organisations that provide social aid and services to disadvantaged individuals and families. The accumulation of gratuitous (sponsor) aid by non-profit organisations, in accordance with their statutory purposes, in order to provide support to other legal entities and individuals is mentioned as a separate possible purpose.
The list of possible purposes includes many other items (for example, supporting sports, protecting historical and cultural heritage, purchasing medical equipment, Research & Development, firefighting, environmental protection, publishing textbooks, etc.), for which both non-profit organisations and any other organisations (public, private, etc.) can receive aid from businesses.
The new legal act also provides numerous definitions of terms related to the provision of gratuitous aid and eliminates many gaps in legal regulations. In particular, the procedure and conditions for providing aid electronically and in the form of digital tokens are explained in detail. At the same time, gratuitous (sponsor) aid received in tokens can be used only after they have been withdrawn by recipients in Belarusian rubles, foreign currency or electronic money.
The new edition of the Edict prohibits the provision of domestic gratuitous aid in foreign currency, unless it is provided for the purpose of purchasing equipment and medicines abroad, receiving medical care abroad or participating in sports competitions abroad. Also, it prohibits those enterprises with a state ownership of 50 percent or more which have overdue taxes, wages or are loss-making from being donors of sponsor aid.
Amendments to Edict № 300 and expansion of possible purposes for corporate donors is an issue that non-profit organisations have continuously advocated for, including in the CSO Meter Country Report 2023. The introduction of its new edition is a manifestation of the policy to expand opportunities for domestic funding of public activities, which also includes the expansion of competitions for funding within state social contracting (public procurement) and within new mechanisms for supporting local civic initiatives and youth initiatives. These changes are happening against the backdrop of a decrease in foreign funding and persecution of civil society.