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Lukashenka authorizes establishment of National Investment and Privatization Agency

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has signed a presidential edict authorizing the establishment of a National Investment and Privatization Agency to draw investment in the country, also as part of privatization programs, BelaPAN said.

Under the edict issued on May 25, the existing National Investment Agency controlled by the economy ministry will be converted into the new institution.

The Agency will be "subordinated to the cabinet and be accountable to a supervisory council,” said the Belarusian leader’s press office in its written comment.

“A specialized organization will be set up to provide comprehensive support to investors, above all foreign ones,” the press office said.

"The new status will allow the agency to work efficiently with governmental agencies, facilitate proper and prompt contacts between investors and local executive authorities, become a one-stop service for all investors irrespective of how they want to expand to Belarus, as well as increase the efficiency of investment processes in the country and investment inflows in Belarus’ economy,” the press office noted.

The Belarusian authorities earlier this spring promised the International Monetary Fund to establish the Agency.

"We will step up the privatization process to reduce the government intervention in the economy and to attract foreign direct investment," Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski and Pyotr Prakapovich, chairman of the National Bank of Belarus, said in a March 15 letter to the Fund.

The prime minister and the National Bank chairman also promised that a privatization law would be eancted in Belarus before July 1, 2010.

On April 30, Deputy Economy Minister Andrey Tur said that this year’s foreign investment were expected to amount to $5.6 billion. Fixed capital expenditures from foreign sources are expected to total $2.8 billion, he said.

Foreign investment rose by 40 percent in the first three months of 2010, Mr. Tur said. It accounted for 6.7 percent of the total amount of investment, which was an increase, although insignificant, he said. "This is not enough, but large-scale work is underway," he added.