Economic difficulties always accompany revolutions and Belarus isn’t an exception. Over the last 2 months, the Belarusian ruble has lost almost 10% of its value. But most importantly, Belarusian IT business and students now consider relocating to other countries as internal repressions grow. Close neighbors such as Poland, Ukraine, and Lithuania are eager to host Belarusians. Yet, realistically speaking, these countries will rather reap benefits rather than spend money for the immigration of Belarusian qualified workers, although some governmental and NGO programs directed specifically at incoming Belarusians were already announced.
The “Belarus of the Future” Charitable Foundation in Ukraine and the Polish government are ready to help incoming Belarusian students
Belarusian students were expelled from universities after their participation in the student March on 1 September. The undergraduates in Minsk marched to the Ministry of Education to file a petition, affirming their discontent with the election outcome and police violence. The authorities detained at least 53 people in Minsk during the protests on 1 September. The number of those who were expelled from universities wasn’t specified.
“In the bus, I sat down on a seat, but the riot policeman knocked me down onto the floor; I hit my head and the flag was torn from my hands. On the way there, we were told we would be sent out to the countryside to do heavy manual labor or conscribed into the army,” recalled one of the detained students.
The “Belarus of the Future” Charitable Foundation promises to help students expelled from Belarusian universities for participating in protests against Alyaksander Lukashenka to enter Ukrainian universities.
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Belarusians who have suffered from the repressions of the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka can receive free education at universities in Poland starting from the 2020/2021 academic year.
"More than 10,000 Belarusian students are already studying in Poland. But we want to see more of them. We want our universities to become sources of Polish-Belarusian friendship. Young people from Belarus who have lived in Poland return to Belarus and carry with them the news that Poland is a friendly country to Belarus, that we want to live in great friendship and cooperation. In the future, we would like to establish a very deep economic, scientific and cultural cooperation with Belarus."There will be more governmental scholarships for Belarusians. For example, the University of Warsaw will continue and expand its activities to support people affected by the actions of the Belarusian authorities. The enrollment for the scholarship program of the Polish government named after Konstantin Kalinouski will increase: students expelled from Belarusian universities will receive scholarships for a full course of study in Poland. Applications started on August 31.
Some Belarusian IT companies lost 50% of income over the protests and relocated
The disconnection of Internet access and the brutal suppression of protests have caused significant financial and reputational damage to the Belarusian IT sector. Due to the lack of Internet access, Belarus lost more than $141 mn in GDP in three days, some Belarusian IT companies did not receive 50% of revenue and suffered irreversible reputational losses in the global market. In an open letter, 2,500 founders and developers of Belarusian IT companies write that it is extremely difficult for them to work in conditions when ordinary people are detained for no reason, beaten and arrested, and access to the Internet is limited for several days. Belarus has created a special IT-park regime for IT-companies. Until 2049, residents of the park are exempt from most taxes, including income tax. Due to this, in 2019 the share of the Belarusian IT sector provided half of the GDP growth of Belarus. Exports of IT services in 2017-2019 increased 2.4 times. However, all this success is now endangered.
“Some 5,000 quotas were distributed among Ukraine’s oblasts with the most IT companies. Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and Lviv oblasts can attract 600 specialists each, Kharkiv oblast – 700 and Kyiv – 2,500,” the minister said.A special project called BelarusToUkraine was also created. It contains the list of IT companies available in Ukraine, all required documents, and other helpful information and instructions for those who plan to come from Belarus.
Ukraine rolls out official site to help Belarusian IT specialists relocateSome 21 Belarusian IT service companies would like to move to Lithuania due to the current situation in the country, according to the Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania Rimantas Sinkevičius. Overall, an online survey found that dozens of companies were at least partially relocating to other countries, while more than a hundred were looking into it. Twelve companies were in the process of relocating completely. Although proposals for relocation are mutually beneficial for companies’ staff and countries hosting them, Belarus as a country may suffer both economic difficulties and brain drain. The outcome depends on how long the current revolution and how it will end.
Belarus hacktivists dox riot police after mass detentions of Women’s March participants | Photos
