France mass media: Belarus remains last dictatorship of Europe

• 24.11.2009, 10:20

It would be hard for Belarus to get rid of its image, until its economy remains under control of the state, and opposition’s protests are regularly dispersed by police, France 24 TV channel informs.

As informed by France 24 TV Channel, which item’s translation was published at jeans-by.com website, Belarus owns a limited quantity of resources and is known as the last dictatorship of Europe. At the same time, it tries to attract foreign investors.

Today, trying to revive the economy and reduce dependence on Russia, Belarusian government makes attempts to improve its image in the West and divest itself of its image of the “last dictatorship of Europe”.

At the economic forum held in Minsk in November, some potential investors highly appreciate plans of forming the Customs Union with Russia and Kazakhstan in July 2010. In the framework of this bloc of the former countries of the Soviet Union, Belarus could become a gate for enterprises that want to enter the huge Russian market. Last months the International Monetary Fund appreciated Belarusian policy of overcoming the crisis, stating that the authorities had managed to achieve progress in reforms on private sector development.

However the rogue country with 10 million population has an economy which is comparable with the economy of Sudan. It is one of the lowest ratings in the world according to Moody's and Standards ratings agencies. The government still controls about 75% of the economy. Investors complain about the red tape, complicated system of taxation and control over prices.

It would be hard for Belarus to get rid of its image, until its economy remains predominantly under the state control, and opposition’s protests are regularly cracked down on by police, the French TV channel concluded.