And, with Austrian money and World Bank support, officials are drawing up a privatization program that will cover a significant proportion of the country s mainly state owned industry. While the specific companies to be sold have not been announced, the government has indicated that it would sell a 25 share of the giant potash producer Belaruskali.

The regime currently operates a bloated, inefficient industrial sector to maintain employment, which is possible because the government derives most of its revenue from natural resources trade (mainly refined Russian oil and domestic potash deposits) and transit fees for deliveries of Russian oil and natural gas to Europe. Yet now, Lukashenko wishes to harness entrepreneurship and foreign direct investment in a bid to modernize the economy.