Because of the violent mass protests, tortures, searches and internet outage, Belarusian tech companies are gearing up to move from Belarus to Ukraine.
As people flooded Belarusian cities to protest the results of the Aug. 9 presidential election that many believe to be rigged, self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and local police started to use violence against them.
The law enforcers beat protesters, raid firms belonging to those who are against the regime of Lukashenko and reportedly block the internet. As a result, many local IT companies can’t keep working and consider moving abroad as soon as possible.
Belarus-founded messaging app developer Viber, for example, has closed its office in Minsk and now works remotely, while Russian internet giant Yandex moved its Belarusian employees to Russia after the police raided its local office on Aug. 13.
Others choose to flee to the Baltics, Poland, Russia or — Ukraine.
Ukraine looks more open to many Belarusians, and the Ukrainian government has been taking some steps to reinforce this idea to Belarusians: it has introduced immigration quotas and simplified entry for foreign tech specialists – including for Belarusians – making it possible to cross the border even during the COVID-19 quarantine if they have a work permit or an invitation from a Ukrainian company.
Besides, ministers and Ukraine-based IT companies have publicly encouraged Belarusians to choose Ukraine if they decide to move, saying that they are welcome here.
For Ukraine, succeeding in bringing Belarusian talents to the country may reinforce the economy and increase the pool of techies that are in high demand here.
Dmytro Ovcharenko, a Ukrainian legal tech expert, claims one employed programmer brings nearly $35,000 worth of exported goods a year. Meanwhile, 15,000 tech specialists graduate from Ukrainian universities annually, while the demand on the market accounts for 40,000 a year.
Favorable conditions
For Belarusians, Ukraine is an accessible country because of the visa-free regime, similar language and culture. Many Belarusian tech companies already have their offices in Kyiv. For example, popular app developer Gismart, video game company Wargaming and Belarus-founded tech giant EPAM — all invite their Belarusian colleagues to Ukraine.
Local businesses also stepped in to provide their services — they rent out offices, send invitations and offer legal assistance.
Belarusians can stay in Ukraine for 90 days, then they have to move or apply for a temporary residence permit. For foreign tech specialists, Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation introduced immigration quotas that allow working and living in the country for up to 10 years with a permanent residence permit.
If they move using these immigration quotas, tech specialists can register as private entrepreneurs and pay a 5% revenue tax and a social tax of $360 per year.
Belarus, however, has better legislation for tech businesses than Ukraine. Over 880 businesses reside in the state-owned Hi-Tech Park, one of the largest tech clusters in Central and Eastern Europe that in 2019 brought Belarus over $2 billion.
Resident-companies pay 9% of personal income tax, instead of 13% that applies to other firms across Belarus.
Ukraine doesn’t have a special tax zone for tech companies and many specialists receive salaries under the table, as companies try to avoid paying taxes, which isn’t the case for the Hi-Tech Park residents.
Ukraine’s main advantage, however, is that Ukrainian tech isn’t influenced and less regulated by its government, while in Belarus, everything is about politics.
“People can’t focus on work because of the constant stress,” said George Kachanouski, a tech entrepreneur from Belarus. “I am thinking of how to make sure my company is safe from the government.”
Fight or flight
Amid the ongoing unrest, Belarusians have two options: to stay and protest against the government restrictions or look for a better life elsewhere, including in Ukraine.
Kachanouski, founder of the Belarusian IT company Scootapi, talked with the Kyiv Post after attending a rally in Minsk.
Despite being stressed by the current political situation in Belarus, Kachanouski decided to stay. He takes part in protests, demands Lukashenko’s resignation and supports Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
If the police detain him, his business will suffer. But Kachanouski believes in Belarus and wants to topple the regime of Lukashenko, who’s held the office for 26 years.
Belarusian software engineer Kolja Ptashitz, in turn, says he’s fed up with the current system in his country and plans to move to Lithuania because it is easy to register a startup there.
According to Ptashitz, Belarusian companies have foreign investors that don’t want to put their money into “another North Korea,” where the head of state can shut the internet and prosecute people for their political views.
Both Kachanouski and Ptashitz admit that moving to another country is a better option for many Belarusian tech businesses.
“Many companies plan to relocate temporarily now, but if the dictatorship wins, then for good,” Kachanouski says.
George Kachanouski, the founder of the Belarusian company Scootapi that develops services for the E-Scooter sharing businesses, attends a democratic rally in Minsk on Aug. 17, 2020. During the ongoing unrest in Belarus, Kachanouski takes part in protests, demands Lukashenko’s resignation, and supports Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
Only through EASE, a Ukraine-Europe tech association that helps relocate people to other countries, over 350 Belarusian tech specialists have applied to relocate to Ukraine in August alone since the riots began. Nearly 10% of them consider permanent residence in Ukraine.
For example, Belarusian techies from British company Godel Technologies moved to Kyiv earlier in August. Another Belarusian tech company, Gismart, also relocated part of its team to Kyiv. According to the company’s chief executive Dmitry Lipnitsky, Gismart can’t work amid political instability and tortures.
Europe’s North Korea
During the democratic protests against Lukashenko, at least 168 Belarusian techies had been arrested as of Aug. 13. Police dragged them to the temporary detention center on Okrestina Street in Minsk or to Zhodino, a detention center 60 kilometers from the capital.
Cells were overcrowded while detainees were beaten and intimidated. Among the arrested were two employees of Gismart, eight specialists of Belarusian company IBA Group, as well as chief executives of many local tech startups.
The police grabbed them on the streets but also came to their houses, according to Ptaberg.
In an open letter to Lukashenko signed on Aug. 12, over 2,500 Belarusian tech specialists called to stop the violence and release detainees. Otherwise, companies said they would move to another country.
“Startups do not thrive amid fear and tortures,” the letter reads.
Suffering economy
Information technology accounts for 22% of Belarusian exports and secures 6% of the country’s gross domestic product.
However, the ongoing unrest will take a hit on the profitable industry as tech specialists move abroad and companies lose money due to internet disruptions.
The investment climate in Belarus has also gotten worse, according to Michael Rumiantsau, a tech entrepreneur and investor from Minsk.
“No one wants to put money into the country where laws don’t work,” he says.
During election day on Aug. 9, internet connection and cellular service in Belarus went down. Belarus also blocked certain independent media that reported about the election, including TUT.BY, NN.by, Kyky.org, and Radio Free Europe.
The outage was believed to be imposed by the government to suppress the upcoming protests and restrict access to information. However, in an Aug. 10 interview, Lukashenko said that the government was not involved and that the internet shutdown came from abroad.
Belarusian mobile operators А1, МТС and life:) denied Lukashenko’s statement saying that the internet and cellular networks were blocked at the request of the government to ensure national security.
A three-day outage cost Belarus’ economy nearly $170 million, according to international non-governmental organization NetBlocks.
Although the issue was addressed by over 50 human rights organizations and local tech companies, the outages repeated on Aug. 17, Aug. 23, and Aug. 30 during the rally on Lukashenko’s birthday.
The internet outage is the main reason for many tech companies to relocate — many of them had to suspend business projects and warned international clients about the delay.
Companies lose money and reputation, said Herman Poleshchuk, director of video production company SLON Media.
“If the situation doesn’t change we will take our team by bus to Ukraine to work from there,” Poleshchuk said.
