Translated material
Belarusians hope for $80 billion
Minsk is “deeply reforming” the economy and is waiting for Russian business
This year, the government of Belarus plans to triple the volume of attracted foreign investment compared to 2007, said Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky. According to him, the authorities are counting on an influx of $17 billion compared to $5.4 billion last year. And in the next five years, Minsk intends to attract more than $80 billion to the country’s economy. We are talking about the total volume of public, private and foreign direct investment, as well as income from privatization.According to the prime minister, to achieve this, the government plans to “deeply reform the economy” in three years in order to “become one of the 30 countries with the best conditions for doing business.” One of the steps in this direction was the abolition in March of this year of the “golden share” institution, which allowed the introduction of state management at privatized enterprises.
In its far-reaching plans, Minsk counts on cooperation not only with Russian business, but also with companies from Europe and the Middle East, as well as from China. In the fall, Belarus is going to hold an investment forum in London. “We want to enter European platforms to promote our economic potential,” explained Prime Minister Sidorsky.
Sergei Sidorsky told Vremya Novostey about projects that can be implemented by Russian business. Among them is the inclusion of the Minsk Automobile Plant in the structure of the Russian Machines holding. According to the prime minister, the Belarusian president “approved this project.” In addition, the Russians (the Severstal company), the Austrians and the Germans are competing for a project to create a steel foundry and sheet rolling production on the basis of the Belarusian Metallurgical Plant.
Yesterday, ex-Minister of Foreign Economic Relations of Belarus Mikhail Marinich (pictured) told Vremya Novostey about the prospects for attracting investments into the Belarusian economy.
-- Why does the government pay so much attention to attracting investment?
-- The economy has accumulated many problems: fixed assets are worn out, the competitiveness of products produced in the country is low. The Belarusian economy needs modernization, which requires investments both in the form of financial investments and technology. According to my estimates, the Belarusian economy needs to attract at least $50 billion.
-- The government wants to raise $80 billion. Is this possible?
- Without reforming the legislation, this is unrealistic. Yes, the government is interested in attracting investment. But the government's hands are tied when it comes to business reforms.
- But Minsk took a number of measures, the institution of the “golden share” was abolished...
- The root of all evil is not in the “golden share”. There is a need for transparent, stable and understandable legislation for everyone. Investments must be attracted on a competitive basis. There should be equal conditions for all businessmen - regardless of whether they are from Russia or from somewhere else. For now, we can only talk about a declaration of intention to create an attractive investment climate. Issues of privatization and investment projects are resolved by agreement between certain companies and the highest government authorities - this is what limits the influx of investment. Holding open tenders with transparent and equal conditions for everyone would allow us to attract much more funds into the economy.