{"id":11414,"date":"2022-05-13T09:53:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T06:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/outlook-darkens-for-belarus-it-industry-after-regime-backed-russias-assault-on-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"outlook-darkens-for-belarus-it-industry-after-regime-backed-russias-assault-on-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11414\/","title":{"rendered":"Outlook darkens for Belarus\u2019 IT industry after regime backed Russia\u2019s assault on Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <span>By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t * Reproduction prohibited\n<\/p>\n<p>\n <b>Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka plans to meet with IT industry executives amid concerns about the relocation of companies from Belarus after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. The Belarusian political regime cannot keep businesses from leaving the country targeted by Western sanctions.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Belarusian leader said on May 12 that he did not plan to shut down the High Tech Park (HTP).\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Persecution of IT professionals<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Established in the early 2000s, the HTP attracted IT businesses until recently with its considerable tax concessions.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t It was a successful and competitive program because the government did not meddle in its business, said Lie\u016d \u0139vo\u016dski, of the Belarusian Economic Research and Outreach Center (BEROC).\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Many IT sector professionals took part in opposition protests in 2020 and 2021 against police violence and alleged vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election. Many participants were arrested. Luka\u0161enka fell out with the IT sector during that turbulent period.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t In 2021, the government raised the income tax rate for IT companies from nine percent to 13 percent.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t In January, Luka\u0161enka verbally attacked HTP companies, accusing IT businesses of carrying out political orders from parent companies during the post-election protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cThe parent companies gave commands here, financed them quite legally and gave them commands to take to the street, fight, overthrow, crash and smash,\u201d he said in an address to the nation and the parliament.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t He wondered whether the harm done by the HTP outweighed benefits.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Russia can hardly save HTP<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Many IT professionals and companies were relocated from the country during the political unrest. The Russian invasion in Ukraine and Belarus\u2019 role in it have triggered a second wave of relocations.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Minsk seems to be concerned about the brain drain but can hardly create attractive conditions to keep IT businesses from leaving the country, \u0139vo\u016dski said. Luka\u0161enka is still convinced that he gave IT professionals too much freedom, he added.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t During his May 12 meeting with Russian Ambassador Boris Gryzlov, the Belarusian leader suggested that Minsk and Moscow should encourage IT businesses to develop end-to-end solutions in Belarus and Russia rather than provide services to major foreign companies.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u0139vo\u016dski is skeptical about that approach. \u201cIT is a global industry. Russia has a population of 140 million, while the world has eight billion potential customers.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Belarus perceived as toxic<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Luka\u0161enka plans to meet with IT executives to ask what assistance they need.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u0139vo\u016dski doubts that Minsk can offer IT companies proper incentives amid international sanctions targeting Belarus as co-aggressor and in view of the internal crackdown on dissent.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Some Western customers refuse to place orders with legal entities incorporated in Belarus or engage IT professionals based in Belarus. Belarusian-based companies have had their access to some cloud-based services restricted. Restrictions on international cash transfers complicate settlements.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cCan Luka\u0161enka solve any of these problems? Obviously, he cannot,\u201d \u0139vo\u016dski said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t He added that many companies are concerned about the politically motivated persecution of opposition supporters, including their employees.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Growth driver<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Luka\u0161enka signed a decree in 2017 to offer HTP-based IT companies tax breaks until 2049. In 2021, he raised the income tax rate in breach of his decree.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t He may cut the income tax rate to five percent to lure IT companies back, but you can never be sure that he will not raise it in a couple of months. The Belarusian government has never been consistent in its policies with regard to private businesses during Luka\u0161enka\u2019s reign.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Ukraine war has had a tremendous effect on companies\u2019 attitude toward Belarus. A part of the international community does not want to cooperate with Belarus because it considers it a co-aggressor, \u0139vo\u016dski said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Despite post-election relocations, HTP exports rose by 18.9 percent last year to $3.2 billion. The HTP accounted for more than a quarter of Belarus\u2019 economic growth and for 7.5 percent of GDP, said D\u017amitryj Krutoj, deputy head of Luka\u0161enka\u2019s Presidential Administration.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The second wave of relocations can undercut this growth driver.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction prohibited Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka plans to meet with IT industry executives amid concerns about the relocation of companies from Belarus after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. The Belarusian political regime cannot keep businesses from leaving the country targeted by Western sanctions. The Belarusian leader said on May 12 that he did [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11414","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Outlook darkens for Belarus\u2019 IT industry after regime backed Russia\u2019s assault on Ukraine | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN * Reproduction prohibited Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka plans to meet with IT industry executives amid concerns about the relocation\" \/>\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\/longreads\/11414\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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