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Lukashenka orders supervisory boards liquidated at leading candy makers amid ownership dispute

Alyaksandr Lukashenka on Friday ordered the supervisory boards liquidated at leading candy makers Spartak and Kamunarka that are at the center of an ownership dispute.

Speaking at a government conference, Mr. Lukashenka referred to an unspecified court ruling. "The court has made a decision. Who has failed to implement the court decision? The supervisory boards have. The supervisory boards must be liquidated tomorrow," the government's news agency BelTA quoted him as saying.

Both Minsk-based Kamunarka and Homyel-based Spartak are controlled by Marat Novikov, the Belarusian-born US businessman who increased his stake in the stock companies by buying shares from their current and former employees.

Earlier this year, the government described their privatization as flawed and took steps to regain control of the companies. Mr. Lukashenka said that he would not change his mind "regardless of any investors or the investment climate."

"From tomorrow on, the heads of the enterprises make decisions solely as state-owned companies, having forgotten that they used to have a supervisory board once," he said.

The Belarusian leader warned that he was undaunted by fears that the controversial order would harm the country's reputation in the eyes of investors. "Of course, I care about the investment climate but not at the expense of the state and the Belarusian people," he said.

Mr. Lukashenka criticized the privatization of the companies in the 1990s. "They gave shares to retirees, individuals, the companies' staff, they estimated the companies' value at the lowest possible level. And then wheeler-dealers in our country, in neighboring and far-away countries bought these shares for a bottle of vodka, figuratively speaking, and became the owners," he said.

"Keep in mind, in our country they will never be able to privatize such enterprises without the president's consent," Mr. Lukashenka said.

He criticized the performance of the candy makers, saying that their imports exceeded their exports by a wide margin. //BelaPAN