Foreign Companies Ready to Invest 1 bln dlrs in Belarus

Foreign companies are ready to invest about a billion U.S. dollars in large facilities in the Belarussian capital Minsk next year, says Viktor Nikitin, the chairman of the city executive committee’s department for architecture and urban development.

“We can point out a big surge of investing activity this year,” Nikitin said. “Foreign companies are ready to invest in construction of hotels, business centers and housing. The total value of all the facilities stands at around a billion U.S. dollars.”

He indicated that this amount does not include the investment that foreign businesses are going to make in an impressive business project ‘Minsk City’.

Most investors are from the Middle East.

Nikitin singled out a few projects, like the hotel and business center Keisson. An Iranian company is expected to begin its construction next year in the area of the Belarussian National Library.

Lebanese investors plan building a multifunctional compound on the city’s Smolensky Street. Also, the city authorities are holding talks with a company from the United Arab Emirates on construction of a hotel near the Dinamo stadium.

Israeli businesses have shown interest towards building small tourist and business-class hotels.

The city hopes to get ten to fifteen new facilities meeting all the international standards by 2010.

As for the construction of Minsk City compound, the authorities will set up a special commission together with the Russian corporation Itera for this purpose.