OREANDA-NEWS. May 12, 2010. The Druzhba pipeline may be corporatized after a law on state-owned property is passed, Natalia Zhernosek, Director of the State Property Fund of the State Property Committee of Belarus, told media on 12 May.

Preparations to corporatize the oil products pipeline Druzhba were carried out in 2009. Assets were evaluated, projects to set up two enterprises (the Novopolotsk and Gomel sections) were prepared.

However, these enterprises are on the list of facilities in exclusive state ownership. The final decision on corporatizing has not been made. But the corporatizing efforts may be resumed after a relevant law is passed, explained the Director of the State Property Fund. At present the possibility of corporatizing oil product pipelines is not enabled by legislation.

According to Natalia Zhernosek, companies, which specialize in transporting oil products, may be interested in the Druzhba pipeline. “I think there can be interest as far as our Venezuelan projects are concerned,” she said.

Natalia Zhernosek also reminded that the bill on the facilities only the state can own and the activities only the state can pursue had passed the first reading already. The bill has been worked out taking into account the changed economic situation in Belarus and in line with the country’s Civil Code.

The bill provides for reducing the number of objects in exclusive state ownership to 28. In the future it will allow considerably reducing the number of enterprises, which cannot be privatized, and to reduce state property management expenses of the state budget. The bill gives the state exclusive rights to pursue certain kinds of activities. The bill also specifies government resolutions that provide for privatizing a considerable number of enterprises by 2011. It will also allow increasing investments into the real economy.