"If someone wants to buy Belarusian enterprises dirt cheap, it will not be so" explained Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski, reported a subscription-based Belarusian news service BelaPan. Belarus needs cash to pay for higher prices for the energy it imports from Russia. More details from Oxford Analytica:
Sidorski claimed that prices would be set by the market; however, for shares in the Belshina tyre plant, he said the government wanted more than 1 billion dollars. Controlling stakes may be sold in two leading banks, chemical plants, oil and sugar refineries, the Beltelekom fixed-line operator, the Minsk car plant and the Krynitsa brewery. However, attempts to sell off parts of the oil refining industry have failed over the unrealistic prices demanded.
Want to know more about who's who in privatization? Check out a new analysis of privatization trends – based on new data we highlighted a few days ago.
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