31 May 2008
Government does not make it its goal to privatize large enterprises, Prime Minister Sidorski says

The Belarusian government does not make it its goal to privatize large enterprises, Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski told reporters in Minsk on May 30 after a meeting of the Council of Ministers’ Advisory Council for Foreign Investments.

These enterprises are being transformed into stock corporations “as an element of privatization,” Mr. Sidorski said. Talks about acquisitions of stakes in the Palimir chemical company and the Naftan oil refinery are still under way, he noted.

The government is actively negotiating with those interested in the Minsk Automobile Factory (MAZ), Mr. Sidorski said. “We want the assets of this enterprise to become part of the corporate structure of a large international holding,” he noted, “We have recently had talks with Oleg Deripaska who controls Russian Machines.”

The government plans to get investments totaling $1.5 billion to build a steel-smelting and steel-rolling plant in the near future, Mr. Sidorski said. “Whether the BMZ [Belarusian Steel Works] will participate in this project or whether it will be a separate project is still being considered,” he noted. “We’ve received offers. I believe the plant will be built in cooperation with potential investors in Austria or Germany. In addition, we’ve received an offer from Russia's Severstal, where a working group has been established on this matter.” //BelaPAN