MINSK, 7 February (BelTA) – Belarus should diversify investment flow and focus on strategic capital, Economy Minister of Belarus Nikolai Snopkov said at the session of the Council of Ministers on 7 February, BelTA has learnt.

Nikolai Snopkov noted that most of foreign direct investments come to Belarus from Russia and the UK. These countries account for 85% of the FDI coming to Belarus. “The Economy Ministry believes this situation is risky. The risk comes from low diversification of investments. The type of investments from these countries shows that our economy does not attract strategic capital; investors are just trying to diversify risks,” Nikolai Snopkov said.

Nevertheless, as Belarusian enterprises have been struggling through debts for several years already, there are no other growth resources, but strategic foreign investments.

The Economy Minister emphasized that taking into consideration Russia’s accession to the WTO and the establishment of the Single Economic Space that “was de facto underpinned by the WTO ideology, the competition in all the economic sectors will be even tougher”. Only foreign direct investments can help significantly enhance the competitiveness of the national economy. “There is no other way,” he said.

The Economy Minister noted that in 2011 capital investments made Br90 trillion. This is Br2.9 trillion below the target, which resulted in the GDP reduction by 1%. On the other side, taking into consideration the import-orientation of capital investments, Belarus saved $600 million on imports.

BelTA