20 May, Minsk /Liliya Krapivina - BELTA/. The circulation period for "Imushchestvo" personal privatisation cheques in Belarus has been extended until 30 June 2013. This decision was made by Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 749, as reported to BELTA correspondent by the State Property Committee. This resolution comes into force on 1 July 2010. Simultaneously, Resolution of the Council of Ministers of Belarus of 29 June 2007 No. 852 "On the circulation period of "Imushchestvo" personal privatisation cheques", according to which "Imushchestvo" cheques are in circulation until 30 June 2010, has been repealed. As previously reported, only 46% of citizens who received these cheques exercised their right to receive a portion of property for the cheques. In total, 4.6 million Belarusian citizens hold cheques. At the same time, 2 million Belarusians did not collect their cheques and did not receive them. The issuance of "Imushchestvo" cheques began in April 1994. In the early years, exchanges of cheques for shares were actively carried out, and state property was redeemed. Since the early 2000s, the pace of exchange has slowed down. The exchange intensified somewhat this year, considering that the process was supposed to be completed by 30 June. However, taking into account internal and external (impact of the crisis) factors, the state cannot today undertake the obligation to redeem "Imushchestvo" cheques. Meanwhile, legislation provides for the redemption of unused cheques. Therefore, the State Property Committee initiated the extension of the validity and circulation period of the cheques until 30 June 2013. -0-

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