Belarusian state makes state property less attractive by prosecuting Motovelo managers

The Court summoned Motovelo Ltd as a civil party in the criminal case against Alexander Muraviev and other former top managers of the plant. The criminal prosecution of former Motovelo owner and head of the Austrian ATEC Holding GmbH Alexander Muraviev, who ranked 36^th in the top 200 successful and influential businessmen in Belarus, creates a negative investment background. It was not the first time the Belarusian authorities renationalised formerly state-owned enterprises sold to private investors. The government’s attempts to preserve and modernise large and outdated enterprises inherited from the Soviet Union at investor’s costs were futile. That was mainly due to the privatisation conditions put forward to private investors, which copied relations of the state with state managers without taking into account market relations. Criminal prosecution against former owners of Motovelo and Elizovo glassworks reduces private investors’ interest in the state property privatisation on the state’s terms.