The crisis has not driven away the foreign investors who are interested in privatizing Belarusian companies, Deputy Economy Minister of Belarus Oleg Melnikov told media on 6 November.

“A lot of respectable companies and banks have emerged. They are interested in working with our companies and attracting their clients. Apart from that, they are ready to provide assistance with privatization, assessment of real estate value and management,” remarked the official. The resolution of these issues will allow increasing the value of a company, he stressed.

This year more Belarusian real estate objects are sold via auctions. Auctions used to be cancelled due to the absence of potential buyers but now these processes have improved thanks to regulations meant to improve sales — auctions for one buyer, sales for one basic amount and so on. Now auctions are held several times a week across the entire Belarus. They sell 15-20% of the represented facilities. “We see a certain interest of buyers,” said Oleg Melnikov.

Speaking about sales of shares in major enterprises, the Deputy Economy Minister said that it will require serious preparations, especially in a crisis when the capitalization of some companies has plunged and the question of whether a company needs to be sold has arisen. He underlined that privatization in Belarus is not supposed to earn money for the state budget. Instead privatization is supposed to attract new technologies and modern management.

Director of the State Property Fund of the State Property Committee Natalia Zhernosek remarked that the Belarusian Investment and Economy Forum is scheduled to take place on 12-13 November. It is supposed to gather around 300 participants as well as representatives of banks and investment agencies. Those includes Swiss-American, French, Czech banks, Polish companies. They are interested in buying real estate in Belarus as well as land plots, in building trade and logistics centers, creating facilities for developing tourism and motorway service.

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