The administration of FEZ "Vitebsk" must give a principled assessment of the residents' activities - A. Kosinets

November 26, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Alexander Kosinets considers it unacceptable to deprive of the status of a resident of a free economic zone without a comprehensive identification of the reasons for non-fulfillment of the agreement on the terms of activity in the FEZ. He stated this today at a meeting of the regional executive committee, where the work of the FEZ "Vitebsk" was considered, BELTA correspondent reports.

This year, the administration of the FEZ "Vitebsk" has deprived three enterprises of their resident status and, according to the first deputy head of the administration of the state institution "Administration of FEZ "Vitebsk" Sergey Stashevsky, intends to add 4 more business entities to this list by the end of the current year. Alexander Kosinets believes that the FEZ administration needs to take a more principled approach to analyzing the activities of its enterprises. "They enjoy state preferences, so the demand should be strict. A free economic zone does not mean "free" from the law," the governor emphasized.

In his opinion, it is unacceptable when the average salary of employees at an FEZ resident enterprise is less than $200. (This average salary is paid at two enterprises that are part of the FEZ "Vitebsk". - Ed. BELTA). "We cannot calmly observe this, our people work there," said Alexander Kosinets. Of the 26 operating resident enterprises, 8 are unprofitable. As of October 1, warehouse stocks amounted to 187.9% of the average monthly production volume and were estimated at Br40 billion. For January-September, there was a negative foreign trade balance of $10.6 million. Only 14 residents work for the external market.

The chairman of the regional executive committee is confident that such an economic situation of enterprises indicates that investors do not take into account economic realities and often use FEZ sites for the production of outdated products. -0-