Belarus offers to save investors’ money from crisis in London
Belarus may become “a shelf” where investors could keep their money to protect it from the crisis. Minsk is gambling on the offer at the first Belarusian Investment Forum that has started in London today. The Belarusian Ambassador to Great Britain Alyaksandr Mihnevich informs about its details. ERB reporters have met the Belarusian Ambassador to Great Britain in London. Alyaksandr Mihnevich gave an exclusive interview to our radio and expressed his confidence in the success of the forum. “If you really want to save your money from the crisis, invest it in the Belarusian economy!”, - urged Mr. Mihnevich.
Alyaksandr Mіhnevіch: “The crisis has turned out to influence us. But the influence is not that great as in our neighbouring countries. Due to the Belarusian economic model, our country is less susceptible to it and is more stable. We would like to show investors that there are problems everywhere while Belarus is a relatively stable country…”
The Ambassador noted that such events were planned long before they took place. Cancelling the forum now would be much worse than conducting it in such a complicated situation.
According to Alyaksandr Mihnevich, there will be about 100 investment projects presented at the forum. The biggest projects cost 3 billion dollars:
“There are projects of construction of mini thermoelectric power stations, development of new agricultural territories, large-scale construction of entertainment, shop and commercial centres in Minsk and other regional centers. Minsk City construction… and moving big industrial enterprises to special industrial zones, out of town… For example, the project of modernization of MAZ costs about 1.5 billion dollars. Construction projects differ from 0.5 billions to 2-3 billions. The sums are huge”.
Why did they decide to conduct the forum right now? The Belarusian Ambassador to Great Britain says that the main reason for it was the lack of domestic sources needed for the development of the Belarusian economy:
“Belarus was wrongly considered to be closed for investment. We did not want to be in debt. The domestic banking system and its possibilities allowed us to support our economy. However, the economy has grown so big! Domestic sources are not enough to support it. That is why we have decided to ask for “external” investment. Where is it better to do it? We think that London is the best place for it”.
Interestingly, foreign experts do not share the optimistic ideas of the Belarusian Ambassador. The head of International Trade Marketing Dirk Trendley claimed that “the Belarusian government would find it difficult to interest investors in Belarus” during the last week’s Minsk forum. The expert informed that they had warned the Belarusian authorities against conducting the forum right now:
“A lot of investors are in a difficult situation and have their own problems so they are reluctant to invest money in Belarus and do not want to hear about new projects…”
Dirk Trendley thinks that the only way out for Belarus is to improve its image. The expert says that the country should be advertised so that investors would be able to take decisions and come to Belarus after the crisis.
Photo by - villasinmontenegro.ru
Alyaksandr Mіhnevіch: “The crisis has turned out to influence us. But the influence is not that great as in our neighbouring countries. Due to the Belarusian economic model, our country is less susceptible to it and is more stable. We would like to show investors that there are problems everywhere while Belarus is a relatively stable country…”
The Ambassador noted that such events were planned long before they took place. Cancelling the forum now would be much worse than conducting it in such a complicated situation.
According to Alyaksandr Mihnevich, there will be about 100 investment projects presented at the forum. The biggest projects cost 3 billion dollars:
“There are projects of construction of mini thermoelectric power stations, development of new agricultural territories, large-scale construction of entertainment, shop and commercial centres in Minsk and other regional centers. Minsk City construction… and moving big industrial enterprises to special industrial zones, out of town… For example, the project of modernization of MAZ costs about 1.5 billion dollars. Construction projects differ from 0.5 billions to 2-3 billions. The sums are huge”.
Why did they decide to conduct the forum right now? The Belarusian Ambassador to Great Britain says that the main reason for it was the lack of domestic sources needed for the development of the Belarusian economy:
“Belarus was wrongly considered to be closed for investment. We did not want to be in debt. The domestic banking system and its possibilities allowed us to support our economy. However, the economy has grown so big! Domestic sources are not enough to support it. That is why we have decided to ask for “external” investment. Where is it better to do it? We think that London is the best place for it”.
Interestingly, foreign experts do not share the optimistic ideas of the Belarusian Ambassador. The head of International Trade Marketing Dirk Trendley claimed that “the Belarusian government would find it difficult to interest investors in Belarus” during the last week’s Minsk forum. The expert informed that they had warned the Belarusian authorities against conducting the forum right now:
“A lot of investors are in a difficult situation and have their own problems so they are reluctant to invest money in Belarus and do not want to hear about new projects…”
Dirk Trendley thinks that the only way out for Belarus is to improve its image. The expert says that the country should be advertised so that investors would be able to take decisions and come to Belarus after the crisis.
Photo by - villasinmontenegro.ru
