$2.5 billion worth profanation

The State Committee for Property suggests selling the minority holdings of stocks of Belaruskali and Naftan.

The dependence on the foreign currency tranches from the Anti-Crisis Fund of the Eurasian Economic Community made the Belarusian authorities remember their obligations on this stabilizing loan, including the selling of state property in the amount of $2.5 billion a year, AFN reports.

“The government has set a goal for the State Committee for Property, state agencies and regional executive committees to compose a list of objects, the selling of which would allow to draw foreign investments in the amount of no less than $2.5 billion”, - the head of the State Committee for Property Georgi Kuzniatsou reported today.

At the beginning of 2012 the Belarusian authorities rejected all the privatization lists. To be more precise, they rejected privatization. At the end the state’s holding packages of 10 enterprises were sold at the total amount of 185.4 billion roubles.  As the result, the Anti-Crisis Fund’s Council approved the allocation of the 4th tranche of the loan to Belarus in the amount of $440 million, however, the money has not yet been transferred to Belarus. It is not ruled out, that the new privatization list for $2.5 billion, which Kuzniatsou mentioned, is the implicit condition that the Belarusian authorities must fulfill if they want to top up the international reserves of the country.

Unlike real privatization, lists are something that the Belarusian authorities can draw well. And it looks like the State Committee for Property is preparing another profanation, which can be showed to everyone to expose the newly appeared desires of the Belarusian authorities to privatize state owned property. But it is a task that no one will be able to fulfill even by magic, that is why no one will even try.

“For performing the task ($2.5 billion) the principled decision must be taken on the possibility of the sale of highly liquid assets”, - Kusniatsou announce the verdict to the list that is being prepared.

“We are suggesting to sell a part of the shares of Naftan, Belaruskali, where we can feasibly receive $2.5 billion, but the issue is not moving forward”, - he lamented.

It is clear that it is much easier to fulfill their obligation of achieving the privatization revenue of $2.5 billion with such state’s holding packages, than to reach this huge, according to Belarusian standards, amount with hive plants and truck crane repair enterprises. No one can forbid Kuzniatsou to dream, but the State Committee for Property should not even start thinking about the high-liquidity shares of Belarusian enterprises.