MINSK, 27 September (BelTA) – The Belarusian government has contacted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with a request for pre-privatization services for five major enterprises, BelTA learned from Head of the EBRD Office in Belarus Francis Delaey.
Francis Delaey said: “We will not be able to pre-privatize the five enterprises simultaneously because the process takes up a lot of resources and time. We are now evaluating these enterprises to choose one and repeat the story we have gone through with Belinvestbank.”
Francis Delaey did not disclose the names of the five enterprises, however, he promised the one chosen enterprise would be revealed later once the matter was clarified.
The Belarusian government and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed a memorandum of understanding during the annual meeting of EBRD governors in Tbilisi, Georgia on 13 May 2015. In particular, in line with the document the EBRD intended to provide support for Belinvestbank's privatization by facilitating pre-privatization and sales of state-own shares.
After a thorough evaluation of Belinvestbank in 2015 the EBRD lent €50 million to the Belarusian bank for lending to small and medium businesses as well as for the trade facilitation program. On 27 September 2016 the EBRD and Belinvestbank signed two new credit agreements — €8 million within the framework of the Belarus Sustainable Energy Finance Facility (BelSEFF) and €2 million as part of the EBRD program Women in Business.
