On January 10, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. The draft law on public-private partnership (PPP) in Belarus is being finalized and is expected to be adopted in 2013. This was announced today at a press conference by Irina Novikova, Head of the Department of Economic Theory at the Academy of Management under the President of Belarus, BelTA reports.
Irina Novikova noted that this legislative act was included in the plan for the preparation of draft laws for 2012. "It is a good law, it will be adopted sooner or later, I think it should be adopted in 2013," the expert said.
During the discussion of the draft law on PPP, objections were raised regarding one of its provisions, which, according to experts, deters private business. This concerns the verification of the use of state funds allocated for private sector projects. It was stated that one year after the establishment of a public-private partnership, the relevant authorities may, in the prescribed manner, come and check how the money is being spent. "It seems correct to check how state funds are spent, but this clause deters private business," believes Irina Novikova. "Because when a private entity starts cooperating with the state, it has other areas of activity where there may be some inaccuracies. And it will not want to be audited a year later."
There is international practice. Of course, the spending of funds must be controlled, and this should be done through a bank, the economist emphasized. In Belarus, this should be carried out by the Development Bank. Irina Novikova recalled that one of the requirements for Belarus when receiving tranches from the Anti-Crisis Fund of EurAsEC was the creation of a Development Bank. "The Development Bank should perform this function," she noted. "That is, as in the rest of the world, state funds pass through a banking structure, which should ensure the verification of the correctness of their spending, where and in what directions they are going."
The adoption of a law on public-private partnership is necessary for the country, the expert emphasized. The world is globalizing, countries are interested in attracting money to their territories, and there is a struggle for every investment dollar. But money does not come just like that; it often goes where infrastructure is developed: modern roads, bridges, other communications, technological structures. And infrastructure projects are very expensive; implementing them solely with budget funds is costly and not always within the state's capabilities. Therefore, it is interested in attracting private business funds into infrastructure projects. And this can be achieved through public-private partnership.
In Belarus, two projects in road construction have already been implemented through PPP, although there was no relevant legislation; they were carried out by decree of the President, noted Irina Novikova. So Belarus is not standing aside from this process, she stressed. "We need to attract a private investor; they come not only with their own money, they are good managers, they will control the process, share risks with the state, will not mothball the facility, but will rather put it into operation to generate income," the expert summarized. -0-
BELTA