No money: Great sales of state property started
- 9.04.2010, 12:48
The Belarusian authorities say the country is ready to sell Russia Naftan refinery and Beltransgaz’s controlling stake.
The Belarusian government is holding negotiations with Russian Rosneft and Lukoil companies on possible selling Naftan’s stake in exchange for strategic investments.
“I don’t hide that we are negotiating with Rosneft and Lukoil and discussing they may come to Naftan as strategic investors,” first deputy prime minister of Belarus Uladzimir Syamashka said at a session of the National Council for Labor and Social Affairs on Thursday, Interfax informs.
Syamashka stressed that a strategic investor should guarantee investing of capital, have distribution areas, perform social obligations and modernize the enterprise. “We haven’t found such an investment yet, so we have to modernize our refineries by our own efforts,” the first deputy prime minister said.
The official reported that the Belarusian refineries spend $150–200 million per year for modernization. It is planned to reach 92–93% processing depth by 2013 in comparison with the current 70–72%.
The first deputy prime minister also added that he had recently held talks with a “big foreign company”, which expressed its readiness to become a strategic investor of Minsk Automobile Plant.
The government of Belarus is ready to consider a proposal of Russia regarding possible selling Beltransgaz’s controlling stake to Gazprom, Uladzimir Syamashka told journalists.
“If the Russian party makes an official proposal, we’ll think it over,” Syamashka said.
He noted that Belarus consummated the transaction on selling a 50% stake in Beltransgaz to Gazprom in February.
“Beltrangaz got the last $625 million for a 12.5% share on February 24. Now there is parity. We are not discussing a possibility of selling the controlling interest now,” Syamashka added