EBRD will prepare five state companies for privatization

The Belarusian government has invited the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to prepare five large state-owned companies for privatization.

As Francis Delaey, head of the EBRD office in Belarus, told reporters on September 27, this line of work is provided for by the international financial organization's new country strategy for Belarus, which was approved earlier this month, he said.

Mr. Delaey said that the EBRD was successfully working to prepare state-owned Belinvestbank for privatization, naviny.by informs.

Speaking about the government's offer, he warned that the EBRD would not manage to prepare all of the companies because it was a costly process. The EBRD is examining the companies to pick one of them for pre-privatization preparation, he said.

According to the official, it will take the EBRD five to six years to prepare the chosen company for its sale to a strategic investor.

Mr. Delaey would not name the companies.