MINSK, 31 July (BelTA) – It is absolutely unacceptable to use the state budget to fix overdue debts. Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov made the statement during the Council of Ministers session held on 31 July to discuss performance of the national economy in H1 2018 and measures to hit this year's targets, BelTA has learned.
Andrei Kobyakov said: “Many state-run enterprises count on the state budget. It is absolutely wrong. Using the state budget as an instrument to address overdue debts is absolutely unacceptable.”
In his words, market instruments have already been created to financially rehabilitate the enterprises. Belarus president decree No.200 of 24 May 2018 applies to state-run and private companies. Debts can be discounted, replaced with shares. Investors can be found and so on. “Maybe it's been little time since then but we have no examples of state and private companies using these instruments correctly. It is necessary to more actively use them because the problems will not go away by themselves,” pointed out the prime minister.
A new presidential decree is in the pipeline to lay down a systemic foundation for the financial rehabilitation of agricultural enterprises without resorting to courts. It will allow greatly improving the state of affairs in Belarusian agriculture.
In January-May 2018 overdue debts on loans increased by 1.7% in Belarus to reach Br2.5 billion or 3.6% of the total loan debts. “It is a lot. Serious work is needed in this regard,” stressed Andrei Kobyakov.
