The World Bank in cooperation with Belarusian experts are preparing a list of pilot projects for privatization of enterprises in the country with the participation of international financial advisors. During the meeting of the World Bank representatives with the State Property Committee of Belarus, taken place on March 24, expansion of the previously agreed list of pilot projects was discussed.
As reported by the State Property Committee, a list of pilot projects for a successful privatization, proposed in the memorandum of the World Bank of April 2010, may include five Belarusian enterprises. Parties agreed on three companies in September 2010 and they are now discussing the inclusion of two more. To this end, a group of World Bank experts will visit a number of Belarusian enterprises, approved for privatization plan for 2011-2013.
In addition, financial experts agreed on a proposal of the State Property Committee to expand the scope of the pilot project, adding to this list another inefficient plant as an experiment. For this purpose the World Bank will need to carry out the corresponding pre-privatization preparation, bring the company into a stable level of performance with further implementation of investment project there.
As reported by the State Property Committee, World Bank experts are on a visit to Belarus on March 21-31, 2011 as part of continuing work on privatization, funded by the Austrian Trust Fund. Trust fund had previously allocated a $5 million grant to the country to support the privatization process in Belarus. The World Bank said in the current negotiations they would help Belarus to develop an effective methodology for privatization process.»
Working group of international financial experts was headed by senior economist Andrea Mario Dal Olio. The delegation, beside international experts, also included the World Bank Resident Representative in Belarus Ivan Velev.
