Land outside Minsk pledged to Chinese banks

Two Chinese banks will maintain possession of the land in the Chinese industrial park outside Minsk.

It can be concluded from order No. 956 adopted by the Belarusian government and published on the National Legal Internet Portal.

The government approved the list of banks that can hold pledges in the form of land plots and can rent land plots in the Belarusian-Chinese industrial park if they sign credit agreements with the joint venture ZAO Industrial Park Development Company.

The list includes only two Chinese banks – the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China. The park administration was ordered to determine the kinds of business activities of park residents and registration requirements (the minimum authorised fund and/or the size of investments).

The banks have the right to foreclose the land plot within the borders of the industrial park.

The decree to set up the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park with a territory of 8,000 hectares in the Smaliavichy district near Minsk was signed in June 2012. Direct investments are expected to reach 2 billion dollars. The Chinese Embassy suggests increasing investments up to $5.5bn.

Residents of the Smaliavichy district have been protesting against the park for more than a year. Many say new plants can worsen the ecological situation and fear large numbers of Chinese migrants in Belarus. These and other questions were repeatedly raised at public hearings over the park construction.