Belarus has no plans to privatize automotive industry

The government has no plans to privatize the automotive industry, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko declared at a meeting with the heads of the largest companies of the Belarusian automotive industry, which was held at the Minsk Truck Plant (MAZ) on February 20 of this year.

The press service of the Belarusian President reported that Lukashenko called unproductive the proposals on closing large plants and developing small businesses. He remarked, "the west will not help Belarus, because it will never support its competitors." Therefore, Lukashenko believes that it is necessary to look for internal resources for development and to consolidate the efforts by all companies of the industry, so as to guarantee reliability of products and improvement of the industrial facilities. The President instructed the government to work out thorough proposals on the structure of management of automotive companies. However, Lukashenko underlined "privatization of these companies is out of the question."