Amkodor Is Another Budget-Sucking Leech

The enterprise follows the way of Titanic.

One of the rules which could save billions of dollars is as follows: "The government has no right to provide a financial, administrative and regulatory support to loss-making enterprises." If it had been obligatory, a private enterprise Amkodor would have not become another budget-sucking leech, economist Yaraslau Ramanchuk writes on liberty-belarus.info.

"After his visit to ZAO Amkodor-Pinsk Aliaksandr Lukashenka decided to provide assistance to the enterprise. Lukashenka was informed that enterprises of the Amkodor "operate steadily". However, there are difficulties: exchange difference, high expenses for debt services taken for new projects. This is the typical situation for Belarus.

Instead of voiding the source of the problem for every commercial organization and people, Lukashenka prefers to make gifts to nomenclature darlings again. Amkodor asked only for $34-40 million.

There are serious doubts about stable work of Amkodor's enterprises. In 2015 the managing company of Amkodor worked with a net loss of Br217.4 billion. Amkodor Belvar had a net loss worth Br32.2 billion, SALEO-Kobrin - Br8.53 billion, Amkodor-Dzerzhinsk - Br5.36 billion, Amkodor-KEZ - minus Br3.4 billion, Amkodor-Unimod - minus Br5.65 billion.

Let's see the results of the favourite business holding of the President in 2014. Amkodor, as the managing company got net loss of Br24.1 billion, Saleo-Kobrin - minus Br11.45 billion, Amkodor Belvar - minus Br9.1 billion, Amkodor-Dzerzhinsk - minus Br2.2 billion, Amkodor-Unimod - minus Br13.8 billion and only Amkodor-KEZ got net profit of B39.6 billion. Only in 2013 Amkodor holding received net profit of Br28.65 billion. In 2012 net profit amounted to Br50 billion.

Head of Amkodor A. Shakutin by hook or by crook assured Lukashenka that problems were temporary and the enterprise needed another tranche of benefits and everything would be OK.

Amkodor repeats mistakes of strategic planning and management at cement, woodworking, flax-processing plants, factories producing paper, bicycles and motorcycles, televisions and others. "Red directors" with the help of their nomenclature fronts continued to "wheedle billions of dollars out of" the budget promising to expand, consolidate, conquer new markets, earn foreign exchange, create workplaces. To avoid unnecessary questions state investment programmes were classified.

Today Amkodor like thousands of our commercial organizations follows the scenario of Titanic. Preferential credits won't help," Ramanchuk writes.