Business news
Foreign agents invited to attract investors to Belarus
MINSK, 12 March (BelTA) – The State Property Committee has invited six foreign companies to attract investors to Belarus. The companies are Sberbank of Russia, Rothschild, Renaissance Capital, Ernst & Young, the private company KPMG, the investment company Uniter, BelTA learned from Sergei Pyatkov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Property Committee.
The companies are supposed to participate in auctioning off the shares of five joint-stock companies, namely Bobruisk Machine Building Plant, VolMET (Volkovysk), Lida Casting and Mechanical Plant, Barhim (Baranovichi), and Rechitsa Textile. Belarus President ordinance No 67 was passed on 1 March 2010 to enable the auctioning. The State Property Committee of Belarus compiled the list of the companies, which are supposed to be privatized, in association with the International Monetary Fund.
These Belarusian companies are profitable and export some of their make. They employ from 200 to 1,300 people. Investors have already showed an interest in these companies. The companies are on the list of joint-stock companies, which shares are subject to selling, and are earmarked for privatization by Belarus government resolution No 1021.
Sergei Pyatkov remarked, selling packages of shares, including shares of these five companies, is part of the regular work of the State Property Committee. “Taking into account the IMF opinion and the efforts exercised by the Committee, foreign consultants or agents will be invited for the sake of making the process transparent and for improving the search for investors. We expect to find potential partners that will acquire the companies, invest in their development and advance them to new performance levels,” said the official.
At present the State Property Committee is in charge of privatization, including the sales of the packages of shares of the five companies. Sergei Pyatkov remarked that no national privatization agency has been set up. “It is yet unknown what operation scheme the agency will use” this is why the Committee handles the process.
The First Deputy Chairman of the State Property Committee also said: “We encourage other foreign companies to submit their proposals as investment agents and investors and participate in the tenders to buy shares”. “We do not restrict participants, they can be from any country. The way the tender to sell shares will be held will depend on how many proposals we get. It does not have to be necessarily a tender, it may be a collegial decision,” said Sergei Pyatkov.
He also commented on other presidential ordinances to alienate shares of another three joint-stock companies. Those are Prodmash (Minsk), Zhlobin Quarry of Molding Materials (Zhlobin) and Printing House of the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy (Gorki). The shares of Prodmash will be sold via a tender while the shares of the other two will be auctioned off.
The shares of these companies are supposed to be sold by 31 December 2010.
Sergei Pyatkov also remarked that the shares will be sold under special conditions. “We hope to welcome an investor that will make investments, will become a decent owner of the companies that will make their contribution to the Belarusian economy,” said the official.
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