{"id":178269,"date":"2026-03-05T22:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"cichanouskaja-to-business-executives-investment-in-democracy-pays-off","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/","title":{"rendered":"Cichano\u016dskaja to business executives: investment in democracy pays off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>March 5, <em>Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Tech companies can play a key role in progress toward democracy and their contribution will pay off, said Belarus\u2019 opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja at her meeting with business and tech leaders in Brussels on March 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She described Belarus as a country where the past collides with the future, according to her aide Franak Via\u010dorka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe past, represented by an oppressive state, the regime, a tyrant who clings to power for thirty years. And the future \u2014 represented by people, the nation \u2014 very modern, innovative, and profoundly European.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs we speak, the top ten Belarus-born companies in the EU employ around 80,000 people and generate an annual revenue of at least $5 billion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am sure that one day, when Belarus is free, they will return home, and will play a key role in restoring Belarusian economy, and will bring Belarus closer to Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She urged tech companies to build partnerships with Belarus\u2019 civil society and media, extend grants to initiatives that use their tools for strengthening democracy and reject any cooperation with authoritarian regimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cichano\u016dskaja expressed hope that Belarus will eventually become a safe place for tech companies\u2019 investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd when Belarus is free, freer and safer will be our Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The meeting brought together executives from Ingka Group, IKEA, NVIDIA, GLOBSEC, Amazon, IBM, Merck Group, EY, Microsoft, Meta, Airbus, Intel, Open AI and other companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/universitet_freepik_racool_studio_1128x752-300x200.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/universitet_freepik_racool_studio_1128x752-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/universitet_freepik_racool_studio_1128x752-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/universitet_freepik_racool_studio_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/universitet_freepik_racool_studio_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Society<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Society<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Top Austrian business school boosts scholarship for Belarusians to \u20ac13,500<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">March 5, Pozirk. Austria\u2019s MCI Management Center Innsbruck has launched a new call for applications for an academic program for Belarusians under the patronage of \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, increasing the available scholarship from \u20ac11,000 to \u20ac13,500. Belarusians may apply for the &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/178251\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 5, Pozirk. Tech companies can play a key role in progress toward democracy and their contribution will pay off, said Belarus\u2019 opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja at her meeting with business and tech leaders in Brussels on March 5. She described Belarus as a country where the past collides with the future, according to her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[21,16],"class_list":["post-178269","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-economy","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cichano\u016dskaja to business executives: investment in democracy pays off | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 5, Pozirk. Tech companies can play a key role in progress toward democracy and their contribution will pay off, said Belarus\u2019 opposition leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cichano\u016dskaja to business executives: investment in democracy pays off | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"March 5, Pozirk. Tech companies can play a key role in progress toward democracy and their contribution will pay off, said Belarus\u2019 opposition leader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/\"},\"headline\":\"Cichano\u016dskaja to business executives: investment in democracy pays off\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-05T19:11:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/\"},\"wordCount\":241,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/\",\"name\":\"Cichano\u016dskaja to business executives: investment in democracy pays off | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-05T19:11:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"March 5, Pozirk. 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Tech companies can play a key role in progress toward democracy and their contribution will pay off, said Belarus\u2019 opposition leader","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/178269\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cichano\u016dskaja to business executives: investment in democracy pays off | Pozirk","og_description":"March 5, Pozirk. 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