[ad_1]
After being arrested, beaten by the police and detained for four days, the 39-year-old finally left for neighboring Ukraine and joined many of his tech colleagues who left Belarus, raising questions about the country’s prosperous future. in the information technology sector.
In an interview with AFP via Telegram, Charnavok said that he was not forced to leave Belarus because of “violence and arbitrariness”, but because of the feeling that nothing would ever change.
“The fight against the regime has become insignificant,” he said.
For a long time, Belarus was best known for its tractors, fertilizers, and petroleum products, but after Lukashenko signed a decree in 2017 that allowed tech companies to avoid paying a lot of taxes, including corporation tax, the country’s capital, Minsk has become a high-tech regional region. Region in recent years. Center.
This tax regime has allowed the creation of more than a thousand technology companies in Belarus, employing more than 70 thousand people. people. Among them are the developers of the extremely popular World of Tanks computer game, Wargaming. The company’s main creative studio is located in Minsk.
Viber’s video call and correspondence app is another success story for Belarusians. Initially, the application was developed in Belarus, and in 2014 the company for 900 million. The US dollar was bought by Japanese tech giant Rakuten.
Last year, exports of products and services in the Belarusian technology sector reached 2.7 billion. USD and was 25 percent. higher than in previous years. The technology sector currently accounts for 4%. Belarus GDP.
Great uncertainty
However, there is now great uncertainty in the sector, as thousands of workers in the sector, most of whom are supporters of the liberal opposition like Charnavok, have decided to leave.
The Belarusian authorities have resorted to a brutal crackdown on the wave of protests that followed the controversial presidential elections on August 9. Thousands of people have been imprisoned and several reports have been received that the police have tortured people and suffered other ill-treatment.
Lukashenko, backed by Moscow, weathered a storm of protests despite strong condemnation and sanctions from the West. However, the latter do not apply to the information technology sector. Still, Minsk IT expert Serhei Lavrinenka says he predicts a slowdown in the sector’s growth due to a brain drain.
He estimates that up to 15,000 have already left Belarus. IT staff. Some companies have even closed completely. For example, PandaDoc, founded in 2011, closed its Minsk office under pressure from the Belarusian authorities and relocated dozens of its employees to neighboring countries.
Mikita Mikado, the founder of the company, is a known opponent of Lukashenko. During the protests, he offered financial support and training, as well as the opportunity to work in the tech sector, to police officers who would turn their backs on the government. As a result, the company’s offices were searched several times and four employees were arrested. Three of them are still under house arrest, one is imprisoned.
Sad atmosphere
Ivan, a 28-year-old IT specialist, told AFP by phone from Minsk that the atmosphere among young IT professionals in Minsk after the crackdown is very sad.
“The places where IT staff amused themselves were empty, the cafes were empty, some even went bankrupt,” said Iván, who did not want to give his name for fear of repression. “He’s definitely not in the mood.”
Belarus’s neighbors, including Lithuania, are looking to attract disappointed IT professionals from Belarus. For example, Ukraine offers simplified migration procedures and tax exemptions for Belarusian IT professionals who want to work in the country.
A. Charnavoki, who left Minsk in October, soon found a job in one of Ukraine’s IT companies. While he says he had a chance to leave, other IT workers, especially those with children, find it more difficult to do so.
Lavrinenka says it may take time, but “if the situation does not change,” Belarus’s IT sector is unlikely to continue to prosper.
“I think people will be leaving, slowly but steadily, over the next few years, so the sector could face a recession,” he said.
