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Belarusian state-owned companies can get listed on stock exchange only with government's consent, Polish expert says

Belarusian state-owned companies need to receive the go-ahead from the government before they could start listing themselves on stock exchanges, Robert Kwiatkowski, a deputy departmental head at the Warsaw Stock Exchange, told a group of Belarusian reporters in the Polish capital last week.

"The management of Belarusian state-owned companies are not quite free in their decision-making, they wait for their plans to be approved at the highest level. They may be willing to start selling their shares on stock exchanges but have no such opportunity so far," he said.

Mr. Kwiatkowski warned that state-owned companies' objectives could be inconsistent with plans by investors buying their shares on stock exchanges. "Making profit is not the main task for state-owned companies. At the same time, shareholders of companies listed on stock exchanges view profit as the top priority," he said.

Two Belarusian companies, lingerie maker Milavitsa and IT distributor Asbis, have their shares traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, said Mr. Kwiatkowski. //BelaPAN