Minsk Bearing Plant (MPZ; Belarus; state-owned; website), in the Belarus capital of Minsk, continues to attract no outside investor interest since being placed on the country's most recent privatization schedule.

Opened in 1951, MPZ is part of a vast communist-era military industry compound which now also produces consumer products and even some vehicles.

The organization has a product line reportedly spanning more than 600 varieties of ball, roller, tapered roller, needle roller and other similar bearings. Its sprawling factory, which may be burdened with as many as 6,500 workers, has the capacity to produce as many as 35 million bearings each year.

In 2008, bearing production at MPZ collapsed as it does occasionally, falling almost 50% from 2007's output. Although stated capacity may be 35 million, only 1.5 million bearings came out of MPZ in 2008 -- 230 bearings per worker. Put another way, combining information from several Belarus government sources, eBearing calculates MPZ's gross bearing sales total less than USD$460 per worker per year.

Listed here, on the Ministry of Economy privatization page, Minsk Bearings Plant is one of many government-owned joint stock companies supposedly targeted for privatization between 2008 and 2010.

However, the Belarus Republic's Ministry of Economy has actually been working on and off for many years in what many regard as only a token effort to find investors interested in MPZ.

Back in 2005, Valery Penza, General Director of the Minsk Bearings Plant was arrested and charged with several counts of fraud relating to MPZ's insolvency, equivalent to bankruptcy.

article: Head of Minsk Bearing Plant arrested
The company has long been troubled by lack of access to cash and liquid assets, as state-controlled customers and others in Belarus often do not pay in cash or do not pay at all. MPZ's cash flow is highly dependent upon sales to customers in neighboring countries, particularly Russia.

Historically, MPZ has also had more than its share of political problems. In particular, Belarus and MPZ have come under international scrutiny for continuing to sell all types bearings to Iran for military and industrial projects.

article: MPZ under fire for Iran bearing sales
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development continues to strongly criticize Belarus, and provides some insight into why the Minsk Bearing Plant is likely to remain under state control :

     Favorable external factors have allowed the government to continue its policy of enterprise support and directed wage increases while maintaining macroeconomic stability. However, this growth strategy is not sustainable in the long term.
      To ensure sustainable private sector-led growth over the longer term, fundamental market-oriented reforms and improvements in the country’s business climate are needed. Yet Belarus has made little progress in advancing structural and institutional reforms since the last Country Strategy.
      The state continues to dominate the economic environment through budget and off-budget financing, support to enterprises through state-owned banks, and various targets imposed on enterprises.
      The privatization process remains stalled, and the state regained its stakes in some formerly privatized enterprises. Private enterprises experience excessive regulation and a high tax burden.
      Finally, the law on “golden shares” remains a serious concern for investors, although the recent abolishment of the golden share for the banking sector is a positive development.