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08 February 2019, 09:00

Belarus' government to toughen requirements to company chiefs

ROME, 8 February (BelTA) – The government will assess the performance of company executives in a tougher way, Belarus' Prime Minister Sergei Rumas said commenting on the outcomes of the government session with Belarus' economic bloc hosted by Alexander Lukashenko on 5 February, BelTA has learned.

“The head of state is absolutely right. We need to toughen performance assessment criteria for company chiefs. It is not okay when people promise to do something, do not deliver and then apply for a new portion of subsidies. Therefore, we will have to say good bye to some company chiefs, so that new people could start from scratch and take over obligations to pay back the funds invested into projects by the country and banks,” Sergei Rumas said.

The premier shares the view that it is necessary to gradually wind down subsidies to companies. “After all, some companies receive government aid for the second and even third time, therefore, the government will learn their lessons from this situation,” he assured.

In his words, over nearly half a year the government submitted five proposals on providing government support to the companies that are essential to the country's economy. At the same time, Serge Rumas noted that these proposals are not about providing new subsidies. “Some 2-3 years ago, these companies were given government aid and repayment schemes were determined for each of them. Now it is time to pay back, however we see that at the moment these companies are not able to do that at a time, and there are a number of reasons for that,” the premier noted.

What the government asked for was to extend the repayment period on earlier loans for promising companies. Gomelsteklo is one of them. In 2018 the company had a profitability rate at 27%. However even despite such a high profitability rate, the company failed to repay the money invested in its upgrade project within three years. “The government held talks with all the banks that financed the company's upgrade project and we found common ground. These loans are serviced; some of them are repaid ahead of time; however the company cannot repay all the debts at a time. Therefore, following a thorough examination and after reaching agreements between the bank, the government and the budget, a corresponding package of documents was submitted for scrutiny to the head of state,” the premier noted.

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