MINSK, 24 January (BelTA) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) may carry out a project to strengthen the governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in a Belarusian region, Head of the EBRD Office in Belarus Alexander Pivovarsky told the media, BelTA has learned.
Belarus and the EBRD signed a memorandum of understanding on the better governance of SOEs in 2017, Alexander Pivovarsky recalled. “As part of this dialogue, we have offered to transform one or two companies on a pilot basis and create a prototype of a new type of governance – a state sovereign wealth fund – to administer state-owned property in a brand new way. This will be a sort of a holding company based on the State Property Committee,” he clarified.
According to Alexander Pivovarsky, if the EBRD finds the resources, a similar pilot project may be set in motion in a Belarusian region. “We could form such a regional holding company in a certain region, say, in Vitebsk Oblast. This matter, however, is under consideration for the time being. We have not found the resources yet,” he pointed out.
The head of the EBRD Office in Belarus underlined that the government and the State Property Committee are interested in implementing the Governance Strengthening Action Plan as soon as possible. Belavtodor Holding Company has been brought forward as a pilot enterprise. “Plans have been made to register one of the units of the State Property Committee as an individual legal entity to take part in an experiment to put into practice a new type of governance. This is a very important project for Belarus,” Alexander Pivovarsky summarized.
He also added that in the future the specialists of this new structure at the State Property Committee will be able to independently improve the governance of other SOEs.
