KIEV, Ukraine — Like thousands of others in Belarus,
IT specialist Aliaksandr Charnavoki took to the streets of Minsk last year
for unprecedented protests against strongman Alexander Lukashenko's 26-year
rule.
اضافة اعلان
Arrested, struck by police and held in detention for four
days, Charnavoki eventually fled to neighboring Ukraine — joining an exodus of
fellow tech workers that has left the future of a booming IT sector in doubt.
It was not the "violence and lawlessness" that
made him leave, Charnavoki, 39, told AFP in an interview on messenger
Telegram.
It was the sense that nothing would ever change.
"The fight against the regime has become
meaningless," he said.
If ex-Soviet Belarus is known for producing anything, it is
more likely to be tractors, fertilizer and oil products than software and tech
services.
But in recent years its capital Minsk has become a regional
high-tech hub, especially after 2017 when Lukashenko signed a decree allowing
tech companies not to pay most taxes, including income tax.
The country's Hi-Tech Park (
HTP) scheme has seen more than
1,000 tech companies register to operate in Belarus, with over 70,000
workers.
Gaming giant Wargaming — maker of "World of Tanks"
and its multiple spin-offs — was founded in Minsk and maintains its central
development studio in the city.
Calling app Viber was another success story from the HTP,
with its early development done in offices in Belarus, until the company was
bought by Japanese tech giant Rakuten in 2014 for $900 million.
Much of the work is less glamorous — like outsourced custom
software design for corporate clients — but very profitable.
The HTP says the Belarusian tech sector's exports of
products and services hit a record $2.7 billion in 2020, up 25 percent from the
year before, and accounting for four percent of the country's gross domestic
product.
Deep uncertainty
But now the industry is facing deep uncertainty after
thousands of its workers — many of them liberal-minded opposition supporters
like Charnavoki — decided to leave.
Last year's wave of demonstrations over a disputed August 9
election was met with an intense crackdown. Thousands were jailed as reports of
torture and ill-treatment at the hands of police circulated widely.
Backed by ally Moscow, Lukashenko has weathered the protest
storm despite fierce Western condemnation and several rounds of new sanctions.
The sanctions have not targeted the IT sector, but Sergei
Lavrinenko, a Minsk-based IT expert, said he expected its growth to stall
because of the exodus.
He estimated that up to 15,000 IT workers have already fled
Belarus because of the crackdown.
Some companies have shuttered their operations entirely.
Founded in Minsk in 2011, PandaDoc, a sales process software
provider, closed its office in the city and relocated dozens of staff to
neighbouring countries after coming under pressure from authorities.
Its founder Mikita Mikado is a prominent Lukashenko opponent
and during the protest movement offered financial aid and re-training in the
tech sector to police who turned against the government.
The company's offices were raided and four employees were
arrested, with three still under house arrest and one behind bars.
Sour atmosphere
Ivan, a 28-year-old IT specialist, told AFP by phone from
Minsk that the atmosphere among young tech workers in the city turned sour
after the crackdown.
"The places where IT geeks went to party emptied, cafes
there are empty, some of them have gone bankrupt," said Ivan, who did not
want his last name published, fearing repercussions. "The mood is no
fun."
Some of Belarus's neighbors see an opportunity, with
countries like Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states looking to attract
disaffected IT specialists.
Ukraine is offering simplified migration procedures and tax
breaks for Belarusian IT specialists who want to work in the country.
Charnavoki, who left Minsk in October, quickly found a
position as a software developer at a Ukrainian IT company.
He said that while he had the chance to get out of Belarus,
others in IT — especially those with children — had found it more difficult to
leave.
IT expert Lavrinenko said it may take time, but "if the
situation does not change" it is unlikely the sector will continue to
thrive.
"I think people will leave, slowly but steadily, and in
a few years, the industry could even find itself in a recession."
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