Direct foreign investment and successful investment
projects in the Republic of Belarus
In the Republic of Belarus there are over 3,000
commercial organizations with foreign investments involving investors from
over 80 countries. The total amount contributed by foreign investors to the
charter funds of such organizations is US $550 mln., of which US $60 mln.
was contributed in 2003. Key investing countries are Switzerland, Russia,
Great Britain, Germany and USA. Investors from these countries established
1,340 joint and foreign organizations and contributed 90% of all 2003 direct
foreign investments to the country's economy.
Foreign investors in the republic are attracted by
industry. Industry, and in particular food, light industry and chemistry, as
well as engineering and metal processing, in 2003 received over 60% of the
total contributions to the charter capital. Over 16% of direct investors'
capital is used to finance development of trade in the republic.
Transportation receives about 10% of contributions to charter funds.
According to several indicators, joint and foreign
companies make a significant contribution to the development of the
Belorussian economy. They provide employment for up to 10% of the working
population of the republic and account for 10% of the country's GDP. Joint
and foreign companies participate actively in the country's international
trade through exporting over 15% of the total export volume and importing
about 20% of the total import volume.
In Belarus, direct foreign investors can form legal
entities of any legal form with any amount of foreign investments. The
company receives the status of a commercial entity with foreign investments
if the contribution of a foreign participant is equivalent to at least US
$20,000 and its stake in the charter capital is no less than 30%.
The advantages of such form of operation for a foreign
partner include additional privileges. Some of them are as follows:
-
a three-year exemption
from the profit tax on production. If the
company's products are of special importance to the republic, the profit
tax rate is reduced by 50% for a further maximum period of three years;
-
an exemption from
customs duties and value-added tax for imported fixed assets contributed
to of the charter capital;
-
non-licensed export of
own products and import of products for internal consimption;
-
free spending of foreign
currency revenues received from export of own products after taxes and
other obligatory payments;
-
free selection of
suppliers and price-setting;
-
preservation of the legal status within 5 years from
state registration of the foreign investment company regardless of the
changes in Belarus laws.
A commercial entity with foreign investment in the
Republic of Belarus may be established as follows:
-
by creation, i.e. formation through contribution of
assets by a single foreign investor or through merger of contributions
from foreign investors and (or) Belorussian entities;
-
through acquisition by a foreign investor of stakes
(shares) of a previously established legal entity of the Republic of
Belarus with no foreign investments;
-
through acquisition of the part of a company as a
property complex. The above company is then treated as a unitary state
enterprise with no foreign investments;
-
through acquisition of a company as a property complex.
Such companies take two
legal forms:
Such organizations are registered by municipal and
regional administrations. State
registration fee for newly established
(reorganized) companies is the
equivalent of €60. Companies are registered within 15 days from the
submission of the respective application. The company then receives a
registration certificate, and registration notice in published in the press.
State registration cannot be refused on the grounds of inexpediency of
incorporation.
At least 50% of the charter capital of a commercial
organization with foreign investment should be contributed within a year
after its state registration. Within two years after the state registration,
each participant must contribute at least 50% of his stake. The period of
charter capital formation for a commercial organization with foreign
investments may be extended by the respective decision of Government of the
Republic of Belarus.
The charter capital of an open joint-stock company with
foreign investments must be contributed in full before the state
registration of such organization.
The certificate of charter capital formation is issued
within 10 days from the date of the receipt of the above documentary
support.
Commercial organizations
with foreign investments may have subsidiaries and affiliates and establish
branches and representative offices in Belarus and abroad.
Foreign capital companies
successfully operating at the Belorussian market include JV Bahco Bisov,
FE Maersk Medical LLC, JV MAZ-MAN",
JV Zeiss-BelOMO, JLLCMobile TeleSystems.
JV Bahco Bisov is a
production enterprise of the Bahco Group AB established in 1991.
JV Bahco Bisov is the only CIS producer of bimetallic
bandsaws for metal and wood processing. JV Bahco Bisov production range
includes bimetallic bandsaws of various types and sizes. 10% of the
company's output is used by CIS companies, the rest is exported to Eurîpean
markets.
Foreign investments to JV Bahco Bisov amount to approx.
US $3.5 mln. Over the last few years the company has been undergoing
continuous modernization and production growth. The planned annual
production in 2004 is 2 mln. metres of bimetsllic bandsaws, the estimated
sales revenue is US $3.4 mln. The company currently employs 90 people.
Annual sales turnover of Bahco Group AB is approximately
US $340 mln. The Group employs 2,500 people and operates in over 40
countries. Due to their high quality the Group's products are in continuous
demand by professional users. The Company controls the whole production
cycle, from fundamental development research to actual production and sales.
Bahco Group AB regularly implements innovations, which help consumers
increase quality of their work.
Contact
details:
Bahco Group AB
SE-811 81
Sandviken, Sweden
Tel.: 46
(0)26-265700
Fax: 46
(0)26-265750
http://www.bahco.com
JV Bahco
Bisov:
13, Zm.
Byaduli Str.
Minsk, 220034,
Belarus
Tel.: (375 17)
233 9835
Fax: (375 17)
233 9837
e-mail:bahco.bisov@open.by
http://www.bahco.by
FE Maersk Medical LLC
has been operating in Belarus since 1992. It was
originally established as a joint Belorussian-Danish venture Belkea-Plast, a
producer of disposable syringes and catheters. Maersk Medical A/S, a part of
the major international corporation AP Moeller Group, acquired a stake in
the company in 1995. Subsequently, due to the continuous production growth,
FE Maersk Medical LLC decided to build a new plant in Fanipol, Minsk region.
The plant was put into operation in June 1999.
In 2003 the company was renamed as FLLC Unomedical. The
company specializes in production and sale of sterile disposable medical
goods for hospital and domiciliary treatment. The company's products are
sold by special divisions of Unomedical A/S. 100% of the company's output is
exported to Western Europe. The quality of the company's products complies
with the international standards, i.e. ISO 9002 (standard No. Å-46002 for
medical goods). The company currently employs 270 people.
FLLC Unomedical is included in the High-Tech Company
Register of the Republic. The Company plans to further develop its high-tech
production in accordance with the demand at local and international markets.
In addition, based on Belorussian scientific potential, the company may
further use its resource base to develop new production lines and create new
products.
Contact
details:
50, Zavodskaya
Str.
Fanipol, Minsk
region, 222750, Belarus
Tel.: (375 17)
210 0333
Fax: (375 17)
210 0059
Joint Belorussian-German Closed
Joint-Stock Company
MAZ-MAN
was established in 1998 with the purpose of production of modern heavy
haulers for regional and international transportation.
The company was founded by the German
concern ÌÀN Nutzfahrzeuge AG (Munich), Minsk automotive plant RUE MAZ, CJSC
JSCB Infobank etc.
JV MAZ-MAN
management had an opportunity to implement new production organization
technologies
using Western concepts in the local economic
environment. The German partner takes active participation in the
implementation of the project,
sharing its business organization experience and know-how, supporting
technical development of the company and implementing new approaches in
production engineering. German experts
share their experience in the field of flexible production and management
techniques.
The plant's
annual production capacity is 3,000 cars.
Production facilities include a modern assembly shop, a
warehouse, a finished goods storage area
and an administrative building.
The company currently has 135 employees.
JV MAZ-MAN
is the first Belorussian producer of European-standard truck tractors, which
comply with the requirements of the European rules and standards, including
EEC UNO exhausting and noise standards. The plant also produces MAZ-MAN
651668 dump-trucks with 6x4 wheel drive, MAZ-MAN 630368 flatbed trucks with
6x4 wheel drive and board tracking trucks with
6x4 and 6x2 wheel drives.
The above car
models are used as a basis for several versions, such as dangerous goods
trucks (arctic and tropical versions), trucks for use in extreme road and
climatic conditions, etc.
Also, the company has developed technical options to improve
technical specifications of vehicles in accordance with specific operational
environment.
During the period of its operation
the Company produced over 700 automotive vehicles, which were mainly sold to
customers in the CIS countries. In 2002
the Company started selling its products to the Middle East.
MAZ-MAN
vehicles present a truly new level of quality of Belarus-produced vehicles,
which comply with all
current and possible future European requirements. Current
objectives of JV MAZ-MAN include development of MAZ-MAN vehicles for various
purposes, increase of production capacities to
600 vehicles per year, upgrading of
production facilities, improvement of quality control,
international market access (Africa, Asia, Western Europe).
Contact details:
POB 70,
Minsk,
220021, Belarus
Address: 3a,
Tsentralnaya Str., Minsk
Tel.: (375
17) 217 6200
Tel./Fax:
(375 17) 217 6201
Joint Belorussian-German
venture Zeiss-BelOmo has been operating in the Belorussian
market for nine years. In spite of this relatively short period of operation
the company has won a strong position in the production system of Carl
Zeiss, a worldwide technological leader in the fields of optics, precision
mechanics, electronic visualization systems and medical technology. The key
objective of Zeiss-BelOmo is further development of new products and
technologies and maintaining a stable financial position.
The participants of the joint venture are: Republican
unitary production enterprise S. I. Vavilov Minsk Mechanical Plant, parent
company of the Belorussian Optics & Mechanic Association (BelOMO) (40% of
the charter capital), and Carl Zeiss, Germany (60% of the charter capital).
Creation and development of a joint venture to produce
competitive goods proved to be efficient and profitable for all investors.
Carl Zeiss managed to expand its production and enter promising distribution
markets, and BelOmo profited from attracting a foreign investor by receiving
valuable organizational and technological experience, providing
Western-standard training to its managing and technical personnel, and
enhancing employment through creation of new factories and an increase in
the utilization of the existing production capacities. The state received
additional foreign investments and thus decreased the amount of the required
financing.
At the present development stage the company's operation
is governed by the following principles:
-
efficient and speedy supply of the regular customers'
needs in accordance with placed orders in the intense competitive
environment;
-
continuous development of new products and upgrading of
technology, improvement of product functional capabilities and design in
cooperation with Carl Zeiss experts;
-
minimal prices and highest quality of products through
increased performance due to improved technological processes, reasonable
investment, continuous search for opportunities to decrease production
costs, limitation of non-production expenses are a combination that ensure
competitive advantages of the company at world markets;
-
continuous personal and professional growth of
employees. Guaranteed employment and good working conditions as well an
attractive pay are all part of the corporate culture.
Contact details:
23, Makaenka Str.
Minsk, 220023, Belarus
Tel./Fax: (375
17) 211 8001, 211 8002
http://www.zeiss-belomo.by
Joint Belorussian-Russian limited
liability company "Mobile TeleSystems" (JLLC MTS) has been
providing GSM 900/1800 mobile phone services to Belorussian customers since
June 27, 2002. JLLC MTS was founded by the Republican unitary enterprise
"Mezhdogorodnaya Svyaz" (Belarus) — 51%, and OJSC MTS (Russia) — 49% of the
charter capital.
The company's subscriber base is currently over 500,000
active subscribers. MTS has been an undisputable leader among Belorussian
mobile operators since 2003. The company accounts for over a half of new
connections to mobile networks.
Speedy subscriber base growth is largely caused by the
growth of MTS network coverage in Belarus, as well as by the sales system
based on a large distribution network. About a third of the total
Belorussian subscribers of MTS live in Belarus
regions.
MTS offers its Belorussian
subscribers a discount on roaming in 58 regions of Russia and Ukraine, as
well as reduced rates for international calls to these countries. As of
November 17, 2003 JLLC MTS had 81 roaming partners in 47 counties, and this
number is continuously growing.
MTS offers the lowest tariffs for
GSM services in Belarus, the optimum choice of tariff plans and options,
special servicing terms for corporate subscribers and its unique Jeans
product targeted at mass customers. The company is continuously developing
and implementing new tariff offers and subscriber services.
MTS uses one of the world's best
billing systems, which ensures accuracy, transparency and efficiency of
subscriber accounts. MTS subscribers can use Automatic Subscriber Services
(ASSA), as well as Internet-based Subscriber Services to manage their
account balances, add or cancel additional services via Internet.
MTS services are available to
subscribers in all regional centers, as well in over
70 districts and other cities of Belarus. Since 2003,
MTS communication services have been available at
M1 route (Smolensk-Minsk-Brest), border-line routes Warsaw Bridge,
Peschatka, Domachevo, Bruzgi, Urbany as well as other major transportation
routes. In accordance with the state program for accelerated development of
mobile communication adopted by Belarus, in 2003-2004 mobile services will
be offered to several districts where wire connection poses a problem. In
addition, the company has developed and is now implementing a program for
improvement of quality and increase of network capacity in Belorussian
cities that already enjoy MTS services.
Contact details:
Inquiries: (375 17) 237 9898,
MTS subscriber inquiries: 0880
(ASSA),
0890 (call-center), 0876 (financial
control).
http://www.mts.by
