In 2008 Belarus hopes to attract capital investments worth $17bn

In 2008, Belarus hopes to attract capital investments worth $17 billion, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky told a session of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Minsk. According to him, it will account for around 90% of the total investments attracted for the previous five years. According to Sergei Sidorsky, in 2006-2010, the capital investments are expected to quadruple as against the previous five years. Their volume is projected to exceed $80 billion. In 2007, the capital investments made up more than Br25 trillion (it is more than Belarus’ GDP in 2002). Belarus has started attracting foreign capital including investments into the banking system. Several Russian and foreign banks arrived in the market of the country last year. At present, Belarus is negotiating with several foreign investors the selling of blocks of shares of Belarusian banks. For instance, Commerzbank would like to acquire a stake in Belarusian Belinvestbank. In 2007, the total foreign investments in the national economy reached $5.4 billion. In Q1 2008, they hit $2.5 billion. The investments have come to Belarus from 100 countries worldwide.