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The Buzz in Belarus with Klim Stashevsky of Arzinger & Partners

The Buzz in Belarus with Klim Stashevsky of Arzinger & Partners

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“Belarusian markets are abuzz with two things right now,” explains Arzinger & Partner’s Klim Stashevsky.“The new strategy for attracting FDI and the M10 highway reconstruction project.”

According to Stashevsky, the Belarusian Ministry of the Economy and the Agency for Investments and Privatization has prepared a de facto “road map” for FDI for main sector investments, which provides guidelines for all levels of government. According to Stashevsky, “the legal community was working on and it had a lot of involvement from foreign advisors.” According to him, “the strategy is ready, we’re only waiting for it to be adopted by the Government.”

Stashevsky reports that “the government is launching a big project to reconstruct the M10 highway,” and he says that the Ministry of Transportation and the EBRD are currently conducting a “prequalification process to select a private partner.” This is the first project that will be completed under Belarus's new Public-Private Partnership Act, he says, and thus it will “serve as a litmus test for projects for the next five years.” 

“As far as the political climate, everything is pretty stable,” continues Stashevsky. “Next year will see Presidential elections, which have motivated the Government to make sure things are running smoothly.“ He says that President Alexander Lukashenko’s announcement of plans to reform the country's Constitution, aiming to extend the powers of executive and legislative branches, was “met with a moderate response“ and that “everybody sees it as an important change.“

Finally, Stashevsky states that “the IT sector is booming in Belarus“ but that the “forestry and woodworking industry sectors are quite active“ as well. He says that the "woodworking industry sector" is thriving due to it being a “source of energy for the market, which is preparing for the opening of the first nuclear power plant in Belarus, by the end of 2019 or start of 2020.“ He concludes by saying that real estate is seeing “a lot of action too, with companies from Poland, Russia, and China all working in Belarus on a significant number of projects.“

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