OREANDA-NEWS. September 8, 2008. Belarus is open to big investors, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said at a press conference for the Russian regional mass media.

The head of state said that Russian mass media criticizes the President of Belarus for not willing to sell Belarusian assets to Russian companies. In this connection the head of state said: “if a state-owned company created by the efforts of the whole nation operates well and brings profits, then why we should sell it?”

A door is open in Belarus to big investors: “please, set up new productions, work honestly, generate profits, pay taxes. Private business is welcome here. Privatizing and selling a highly-profitable enterprise for nothing is not profitable for us because neither the people nor the state benefits from it. Any company means hundreds, thousands of people. They and their families are important for us. Please tell me sincerely whether there are many new owners who take care of people. The answer is well known. Every now and then we hear about the people being laid off by new owners. Although they say business should be socially responsible,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

According to the President, it was not the Belarusians who have invented a socially-oriented economy. Many western countries have been concerned about preserving the stability and wellbeing in the society and sought to avoid social shocks. Following the international experience we also try to teach the owners of companies to be socially responsible, to take care of people and the country, the President said.

As an example Alexander Lukashenko cited a new multi-functional ice arena in Soligorsk. Two thirds of the expenses on its construction have been financed by Belaruskalii. The company spends big money on social issues every year. Though there could have been an alternative – all profits could have been transferred to a personal account in some western bank. Anyway, the things were going that way in the mid 1990s.