Minsk is raking in banks for itself

Belarusian banks will go to the state
And all his debts will be forgiven
Belarus is expecting another round of the campaign to strengthen the role of the state in the country's banking system. The Ministry of Economy is considering a draft resolution of the Council of Ministers of Belarus, according to which shares of banks owned by state-owned enterprises will go to the state when the latter are privatized.

The draft resolution of the Council of Ministers of Belarus "On strengthening control over bank shares owned by state-owned enterprises" is an obvious continuation of the campaign to strengthen the role of the state in the country's banking system.
The first stage of the “nationalization” of Belarusian banks began in May last year with decree of the President of Belarus #209 “On measures to regulate banking activities in the Republic of Belarus.” One of the points of the decree ordered banks to determine the real share of the state and legal entities based on state ownership in the authorized funds of banks. The recalculation methodology proposed by the National Bank for this purpose led to an increase in the state’s share in most large banks.
The fact is that the amount of the shareholder’s cash contribution was recalculated into US dollars based on the national currency exchange rate on the date of investment. As a result, with a constant amount of authorized capital, the share of bank founders who made their deposits in 1991-1992 increased significantly. Thus, in the authorized capital of Belbusinessbank the state’s share was supposed to increase to 49.8%, in Belpromstroybank - to 38%, in Priorbank - to 48.14%.
In continuation of this campaign, the above-mentioned draft resolution of the Council of Ministers is proposed. The document is aimed at strengthening control over the disposal and management of bank shares owned by state-owned enterprises in the process of their privatization.
For this purpose, when denationalizing state-owned (rental) enterprises, bank shares owned by state-owned enterprises are excluded from the value of state property. These shares are not included in the authorized funds of newly created joint-stock companies and remain the property of the state. The right to own and dispose of shares is assigned to the Ministry of State Property of Belarus.
The question arises: why were bank shares chosen? Perhaps the reason is trivial. The fact is that the huge debt of state-owned enterprises to banks is constantly increasing and the state, willy-nilly, will have to take measures to solve this problem. The problem of debt of state-owned enterprises to banks can be solved either through large subsidies from the state (and this requires a large-scale emission of money), or simply by writing off debts.
Of course, the second path seems more preferable for the authorities. However, this requires that a controlling stake in banks, and therefore the right to make decisions, belong to the state.
IGOR J-ALEXANDROV

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 113 dated July 18, 1997, p. 4