Miasnikovich faults investment plan

Belarus received only $15.8 million out of expected $4.5 billion.

It follows from the official statistical data, BelaPAN reports.

Belarus received $15.8 million from selling the state's stakes to foreign investors in January-September 2014, though the government had ambitious privatisation plans. The joint action plan of the government and the National Bank adopted in October 2013 provided for “organising and holding a competition on the privatisation of state-owned property by strategic investors in 2014 at a sum of 4.5 billion dollars and making proposals to Lukashenka on the results of the competition”.

It was planned to gain profit from the implementation of the so called integration projects. Belarus and Russia chose 5 projects in early 2013 to set up Belarusian-Russian joint ventures and thus attract Russian capital to the country's industrial sector.

The projects provided for creating joint ventures involving the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant and companies of Russia's defence sector; Belarusian MAZ and Russian KamAZ; Belarusian Peleng plant and Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos; Grodno Azot and Russia's EuroChem; Belarusian Integral plant and Russian Electronics. Neither of the projects was implemented.

Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev said at a press conference after a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State in October this year that cooperation prospects could be reviewed if Minsk gave up its privatisation plans.

“I can say that we are a step away from adopting final decisions and signing documents on several projects. However, the final decisions should be made by the Belarusian side, as it pertains to privatisation,” Medvedev said commenting on the prospects of the implementation of five industrial projects. The decision should be taken by the end of 2014, the Russian PM noted. “We believe it is certainly in the interests of the Republic of Belarus. If our partners want to do it, it can be done by the end of the year,” Medvedev said.

He gave to understand that little time was left. “Every innovation, let alone investment project has a period during which it remains interesting,” Medvedev said.