Belarus abolishes "golden share"

Belarus has abolished the "golden share" rule which allowed the state to control even a private company, under the decree signed by Alexander Lukashenka. The "golden share" was introduced in this country in 1997. Economist Leanid Zaika says that back then the government wanted "to protect the country from the undesirable capital". In 2004, the rule was amended in order to attract investors. It is no wonder that it has been cancelled, because it scared off a lot of investors, Zaika suggests.

Moreover, the golden share in Belarus was different from similar mechanisms in the other countries. Under the rule, the government was allowed to introduce the state's golden share even at a private enterprise with no state capital.

Economist Leanid Zlotnikau says:

"It was a very unusual golden share in Belarus. Why now? Because the country has a great need for foreign investments. We can observe that there has been a rapid accumulation of external loans in the pasy 2-3 years. The capital funds are wornt; the country has no own money, becase the social security burden was always huge, while investments were insignificant".

But one should not expect that foreign investors will dash to Belarus now. Leanid Zlotnikau says there are still many hurdles for investors, e.g. high taxes or a frequent amednment of the laws.