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Prime minister issues privatization warning

The Belarusian government will sell stakes in state-owned companies only on advantageous terms, Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich warned at a meeting of the Council of Ministers in Minsk on Tuesday, BelaPAN said.

"There is and will be no sell-off of state property despite what apologies for reporters write in the press," the government's news agency BelTA quoted Mr. Myasnikovich as saying.

"We will be opening up our economy quietly and consistently, creating new jobs and attracting investors for the sake of an increase in our people's well-being."

The government will soon submit to Alyaksandr Lukashenka a list of state-owned enterprises that it plans to sell to foreign investors this year, according to the prime minister. He stressed that the privatization of the companies should raise a total of at least $2.5 billion.

Mr. Myasnikovich described privatization and structural reform as "the government's daily job." "We will be doing it without any hullabaloo and noise, efficiently, openly and on the basis of laws. There will be no mass redundancies, job cuts and other fears that certain opponents are trying to stir in society. There will be a competitive labor market," he was quoted as saying.