Svietlahorsk Cellulose-Pasteboard Combine Nationalized

Svietlahorsk Cellulose-Pasteboard Combine was one of the first to be privatized. In 1994 it became a joint-stock company. Recently the state has emitted more than 17 billion rubles in it. Almost 1,5 million actions were issued. As a result, the state share in the statute capital of the combine increased from 47% to 76%. Accordingly, the share of other stockholders became smaller and the number of the physical bodies, including the combine workers, decreased.

-- They didn’t ask us, they simply took away our actions. We were told the state takes the enterprise under its control. That’s why our actions were taken away. They will continue ruling us. We have become slaves. The administration can do what they like, keep us at work or fire, -- said one of the workers to RFE/RL.

The return of the controlling interest to the state was the initiative of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, pronounced during the visit to the combine that took place in June 2003. It also became the main reason for the issue of the financial means for building of the second line for production of non-bleached cellulose.