According to the reports to the officials, construction of the Belarusian-Chinese industrial park is underway.
But it turned out that only two investors are ready to invest their money in the project. And one of them is not international, while another is not innovative. For whom is the infrastructure near Smalevichy being built and with what money?[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/qvikITk4xLQ”][/vc_column][/vc_row]It is never long that comes at last. After three years of false starts, construction of the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park started this year.
In April, at Smalyavichy, near the airport “Minsk 2” workers began to clear the forest on both sides of the adjacent road to extend it to a six-lane. Now they are doing sewerage and telecommunications works. The shift in the project, which since 2010 has existed only on paper, was explained by the management of industrial park by the solution of financial problems.
ANDREY HAL, HEAD OF THE INDUSTRIAL PARK ADMINISTRATION:
“China signed an agreement with Eximbank a loan for the construction of park infrastructure on favorable terms.”
Agreement about the respective loan of $170 million was signed against the backdrop of the May visit to Minsk of the Chinese leader Xi Jin Ping.
But three years after the founding ceremony of the park, the picture looks different. At the press conference, which was convened by the leadership of Technopark to boast of success, the question of Belsat about the amount of investment treaties caught the head of administration by surprise.
ANDREY HAL, HEAD OF THE INDUSTRIAL PARK ADMINISTRATION:
“This year another company – our local Nanopiktin – plans to begin construction.” These are the plans set by our contractual relationship.”
In addition to Nanopiktin there is only one more investor – the Chinese company “China Merchants”. It plans to build a logistics center that will be different from their Belarusian competitors only by unprecedented tax credits.
ULADZIMIR ARTSYUHIN, ECONOMIC OBSERVER:
“Chinese enterprises have long been working in market conditions. They can invest of course on the orders of the party, but, apparently, there are no such orders, and doing it on their own initiative apparently does not seems economically feasible to them.”
As a result, experts summarize, the Belarusian authorities took another loan of $170 million to continue the advertised project of Technopark, despite the fact that it was just as unwanted as additional cement plants built before using half a billion dollars borrowed from China. It turned out unwanted, because even residents of the friendly China would not invest their money in Belarus without independent courts and predictable economic policy.
Stanislau Ivashkevich, Belsat
