BELARUS OPEN FOR TALKS WITH ANY INVESTORS

Belarus is open for talks with any investor, Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said at a session of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Minsk on May 30. “We are open for talks with investors and are ready to consider any proposal,” Sergei Sidorsky said. According to him, the main task of the government of Belarus is to improve the investment climate and bring the country into the list of the world’s most investment attractive destinations. Today Belarus is ranked 110th on this list. “We have been working on creating comfortable conditions for investors, for improving the investment climate,” Sergei Sidorsky said.

Further steps on the way of improving the investment potential will be aimed at creating the favourable business doing environment. The Prime Minister reminded that Belarus is the only CIS country which has adopted the investment code. The country has recently simplified registration procedures, reduced the list of documents necessary for obtaining a licence, established the time framework for officials for certain procedures.

Moreover, the country adopted a number of decisions to intensify the flow of foreign investments into small and middle towns. For instance, the country introduced the European method of selling facilities for one basic amount, privileged taxation schemes and simplifed loan obtaining and customs procedures. According to the Belarusian Prime Minister, assigning of the sovereign credit rating to Belarus will also promote foreign investments into the national economy.

On May 30, the plenary session of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments of the Council of Ministers of Belarus discussed the issues regarding the creation of positive image of Belarus abroad, the development of small and medium-sized business. Attending the session are 500 people including 200 foreigners and also diplomats from many countries. Taking part in the session are also representatives of the UNDP, International Finance Corporation, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, heads of Belarusian ministries, concerns, oblast executive committees and the Minsk city council, free economic zones, the Belarusian companies.

The Advisory Council for Foreign Investments was set up to hold a direct dialogue between the Belarusian Government and foreign investors, the international organizations which work in this country. The Council develops the measures to improve the investment climate in the country and to create a positive image of Belarus abroad.

Tax burden on Belarus economy may be 1.2% of GDP down in 2009, Belarusian Prime Minster Sergei Sidorsky told a session of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Minsk on May 30.

According to him, it will allow the Belarusian companies to keep more than Br1.4 trillion to themselves.

Sergei Sidorsky reminded that in 2007 tax burden downed by 0.6% of GDP, in 2008 – by 0.8%.

The Belarusian Prime Minister noted that this dynamics is a good signal for investors. According to him, Belarus’ plans to be among thirty countries with the most favourable investment climate are quite real and the results of the economic development of Belarus attest to it.

In 2008, Belarus hopes to attract capital investments worth $17 billion, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky told a session of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Minsk.

According to him, it will account for around 90% of the total investments attracted for the previous five years.

According to Sergei Sidorsky, in 2006-2010, the capital investments are expected to quadruple as against the previous five years. Their volume is projected to exceed $80 billion.

In 2007, the capital investments made up more than Br25 trillion (it is more than Belarus’ GDP in 2002).

Belarus has started attracting foreign capital including investments into the banking system. Several Russian and foreign banks arrived in the market of the country last year. At present, Belarus is negotiating with several foreign investors the selling of blocks of shares of Belarusian banks. For instance, Commerzbank would like to acquire a stake in Belarusian Belinvestbank.

In 2007, the total foreign investments in the national economy reached $5.4 billion. In Q1 2008, they hit $2.5 billion. The investments have come to Belarus from 100 countries worldwide.

In 2008 the share of investments in Belarus’ GDP will increase to 30% what attests to the expanded reproduction of basic capital in the country, Vice-Premier Andrei Kobyakov said at a session of the consultative council for foreign investment at the Council of Ministers of Belarus.

According to him, in 2008 GDP of Belarus is projected to increase by 11% over 2007, capital investments 25%.

Andrei Kobyakov took note of an inflow of foreign investments. There are more than 4,200 organisations in Belarus with foreign capital, mainly from Russia, Austria, Germany and the USA.

he Israeli company Fishman Group is going to put nearly $1 billion in the Belarusian economy within the next 5-6 years, Eduard Prilepsky, the company’s general director for the CIS countries, stated at a session of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Minsk on May 30.

According to him, construction is the most attractive area for investing capital in Belarus. In this respect, the Fishman Group signed an agreement on $700-million investments in the projects of the Belarusian High Tech Park. Besides, the Israeli investment company intends to cooperate with the Minskstroi companies in setting up an integrated house-building factory for erecting 400 thousand square meters of housing per year, including 200 thousand square meters for people in need to improve their housing conditions. The Fishman Group plans to build a trading center in Minsk.

Eduard Prilepsky noted that Belarus serves well as an investment destination.

The Fishman Group is a large international real estate investor with an annual turnover of $2.5 billion.

A country marketing concept should be created in Belarus, Chairman of the German-Belarusian Economic Club Klaus Bayer told a session of the Foreign Investment Advisory Council in Minsk on May 30.

Such a concept will contribute to further systematic development and perfection of the investment climate in Belarus. Apart from that, it is now “necessary to take care of the country’s rating, the advertising of the country and we expect further progress here,” added Klaus Bayer.

He appreciated changes in the Belarusian legislation aimed at encouraging business and investment efforts. In particular, the decision to annul the golden share right signifies the stability of the investment climate improvement process, underscored Klaus Bayer. He also said, in 2007 businessmen, who worked in Belarus were polled. Over 50% of those polled were satisfied with their business in Belarus. Around 1.5% of the polled investors said the investment climate in Belarus is good and very good.

Klaus Bayer also named several proposals, which will improve the development of the Belarusian market economy and will decrease the number of hindrances businessmen face. In his opinion, there are still quite many auditing bodies in the country. Klaus Bayer also suggested facilitating the civil engineering licensing procedure.

The overall improvement of the business climate does not improve all economic processes, including private business. The efforts should continue, the expert added.

n 2008, Russia’s Sistema Corporation will invest more than $100 million in MTS (Mobile TeleSystems Company), head of the regional development and the CIS countries department of Sistema Corporation Alexander Rudakov said at a session of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Minsk.

According to him, all in all Sistema is going to work in eight basic sectors in Belarus envisaged in the general agreement inked between the Belarusian Government and Sistema Corporation in March this year.

According to Alexander Rudakov, the sides have set up the steering council which has already held two sessions. Business-plans for all these sectors will be approved in the near future. For example one of the areas of cooperation will be the production of microchips. The sides will also cooperate in the area of radiotechnology, real estate, tourism and trade.

“Thus, Sistema Corporation is gong to invest from $300 million to $1 billion in the Belarusian economy,” Alexander Rudakov noted.

Alexander Rudakov also said that the corporation is keen to promote cooperation with Belarus as “there is favourable investment climate underpinned by tax breaks and social stability”.

Russian corporation Sistema plans to acquire the controlling interest in Mobile TeleSystems, head of Sistema’s regional development and CIS department Alexander Rudakov told media at a session of the Foreign Investment Advisory Council in Minsk on May 30.

“Now we own 49% of the shares of the company and are working on buying more shares,” he said. The executive added, relevant negotiations with the Belarusian side are in progress.

He stressed, regardless of whether the company will be able to acquire the controlling interest in MTS, it will introduce third-generation cellular communication technologies in Belarus. BelTA reported earlier, Sistema plans to invest over $100 million in Mobile TeleSystems LLC in 2008.

On the whole, Alexander Rudakov evaluated Belarus’ market as large and promising.

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