This presentation is made by Katryna Bornukova. Presented during the Development Day conference 2019.

1. Doing Business in Belarus
Kateryna Bornukova, BEROC
SITE Development Day
Stockholm, 2019

2. Belarusians Mindset Shift
§ European Values Survey; higher score means more support for
government ownership
2
3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0
2018
1999
2018
1999
2018
1999
Belarus
EaP
excl
BelarusEU
Do we need more government ownership?
More private ownership More government ownership

3. Doing Business is Easier
§ Ease of
Doing Business
score improves
(relative to the
best practice of 100)
§ BEEPS-2018: Major obstacles are high taxes, access to
finance, lack of qualified workforce
– Surveys and indices do not reflect risks of criminal
persecution
3
52
74.3
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020

4. Private Sector Exists, Sizable
4
37.2%
30.6%
41.6%
47.3%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
40.0%
45.0%
50.0%
2012 2015 2016 2017 2018
Commercial SOEs
employment share
Private sector
employment share
(upper bound)

5. Where Businesses Operate
§ 25% of manufacturing output is private
– Food processing, textiles, wood processing
– Hidden champions: instrument makers and other high-
tech hardware
– Value chains around big SOEs
§ Dominant in services
– Retail, banking, communications
– Logistics
– IT
5

6. IT Sector
§ High-Tech Park
– Tax-free and special regulatory zone for IT established
in 2016
§ Explosive growth
– 1.4 bln exports in 2018
– But relatively small: less than 50 thou people employed
§ Lobbying efforts
– Enlargement to include hardware; cryptocurrencies
– IT University
6

7. Chinese Investment
§ Financing and investment (only 6.7% of total FDI)
§ Two big projects
– The Great Stone – industrial park built to attract Chinese tech
– One Belt One Road – Belarus positions itself as a bridge to the EU
§ Some scandals
– Environmental and technological problems in at least two China-
built factories: Svetlogorsk Pulp Mill and I-Power Plant
§ Some success cases
– BelGee cars; potash fertilizers; appliances
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8. In conclusion:
§ Some sectors are gaining influence
– Do we need to worry about checks and balances?
§ Chinese investments are a mixed story
– Big hopes are not paying off so far
§ Business/private sector is viewed as a source of growth
– Does the government know what to do about it?
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