This year, Belarus plans to launch 5-6 pilot public-private partnership projects

By Svetlana Sevkovich

This year, Belarus plans to launch 5-6 pilot public-private partnership projects

These are likely to be infrastructure projects in small-scale power generation, road construction and education. Proposals will be put forward by regional executive committees and ministries. “By the end of the year, we will have come up with 5 or 6 pilot projects and, with the help of international experts, we will hold a tender to select the best counterparts,” notes Alexander Zaborovsky, the First Deputy Head of the Council of Ministers Office and Head of the Belarusian Prime Minister Secretariat. He also said that assistance will be provided by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

This year, Belarus will draft a list of priority facilities in the manufacturing and social sectors that are to be built within the next 10-15 years. They will be included in the national infrastructure plan. Some projects will be implemented in the pilot mode following new regulations governing public-private partnership.

This year, the National Assembly is expected to study a draft law on public-private partnership. Mr. Zaborovsky noted that the document had already been approved in principle.

He emphasised that Belarus had done a lot to promote public-private partnerships. The country is the leader in the post-Soviet space in terms of using PPP mechanisms. Educational and other events are conducted for government officials to study the best practices in the field of PPP. One such seminar took place in Minsk as part of the EU/UNDP project — Capacity Development to Support the Implementation of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in Belarus.