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July 18 – July 24, 2011

Belarusian directors oppose privatization

The situation has not changed
Belarusian directors oppose privatization

The State Property Committee (SPC) believes directors of the Belarusian state-owned enterprises are the main opponents of privatization in the country.

Head of the SPC Kuznetsov said, “Directors started intimidating staff, frustrating tenders and auctions”. Directors often find support in the ministries and concerns.

Comment

Publicity of the privatization negotiations implies that the conflict over control of the Belarusian companies will continue escalating.

The fight of the nomenclature is no longer behind the scenes: via interviews and press conferences senior officials frequently make the ongoing conflict issues and differences in approaches open to the public. The SPC makes attempts to become an independent player at the Belarusian economic scene, fighting against a number of ministries, local authorities and directors, obviously enjoying the support of the Council of Ministers.

The existing economic situation only strengthens the departmental conflict: the SPC is trying to maximize the fiscal impact of privatization by selling assets as expensive as possible, while directors and local authorities (ministries) prefer to leave things unchanged.

The existing economic situation only strengthens the departmental conflict: the SPC is trying to maximize the fiscal impact of privatization by selling assets as expensive as possible, while directors and local authorities (ministries) prefer to leave things unchanged.

They would like to continue receiving the state support and exercising ineffective management, maximizing their own benefits. As well, they would also like to choose the new owner.

The authorities’ intention to sell 180-200 medium-sized enterprises in 2011-2012 via auctions implies that interdepartmental conflict and resistance of directors to mass privatization will grow in the country.

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