In recent years, the world media have increasingly begun to write about Belarus as an "IT country" and "Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe". The reason is the success of IT projects with Belarusian roots, such as EPAM, Viber messenger, MSQRD application, Wargaming with its game World of Tanks and others.
And two years ago, the Belarusian high-tech industry became famous also thanks to the signing by President Lukashenko of the decree "On the Development of the Digital Economy." According to the document, residents of the High-Tech Park (HTP) can now conduct business in the field of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, using a preferential tax regime. After the adoption of the decree, the number of HTP residents increased several times.
Myth 1. We did everything ourselves.
Taxes and benefits
It is very good that the HTP and IT industry exists and is developing in Belarus. In fact, when I found out about it 5 years ago, I was VERY surprised, and pleasantly surprised. Cool!
But let's talk about the conditions under which they work in Belarus.
The HTP is not so much a specific place (only 4 thousand people sit on the territory of the park), as a set of benefits. Residents are exempt from most taxes, including income, value added and real estate taxes until 2049. Instead, they transfer 1% of their revenue to HTP once a quarter. Income tax for employees has been reduced from 13% to 9%. Contributions to the Social Security Fund are calculated based on the average wage in the country - i.e. about 1/5 of what the rest of the business in Belarus pays.
I'm not sorry at all. People with brains remain in Belarus, currency comes to the country. Employees of IT companies spend a lot of money in the country, which means that the industries that serve these people are also growing. Everything is super, and there would be more such industries!
But business is business. All this is happening not out of love for Belarus, but primarily because it is PROFITABLE. And this, from a business point of view, is logical. As the saying goes, nothing personally - just business.
Now the question has arisen that the IT business of Belarus is some kind of navel of the earth. And that some of the representatives of this industry are against the political situation in which Belarus lives under Lukashenka and which happened after the presidential elections. They blackmail the authorities and society by saying that if early presidential elections are not held in Belarus, as well as a number of their other demands, many IT companies will leave the country.
But let's not forget that in addition to the IT industry and the people who work in it, which is about 60 thousand people (if together with their spouses and children, then 180-200 thousand people) another 9.3 million people live in Belarus. man. And, unfortunately, in terms of income and many other factors, these people are not as rosy as those of IT specialists. As the saying goes, to whom the soup is liquid, and to whom the pearls are small.
In my opinion, the success of the IT industry in Belarus is greatly exaggerated and exaggerated. Although they are, of course, great. But I am sure that if similar conditions for taxes and other preferences that they have in Belarus would apply to ALL types of activity, then there would be a real boom in Belarus, both among domestic entrepreneurs and among foreign investors. And if you consider that Belarus is a member of the Customs Union with Russia and Kazakhstan, it would still be a booming boom!
Those. if ALL other businesses in Belarus received similar tax breaks, then the IT industry would NOT stand out so much and would not pull the blanket over itself.
Don't believe me? Here is another example for you, to which Lukashenka also "has nothing to do" - agritourism. See what has happened to this industry over the past 17 years. It is developing rapidly. Developed before the coronavirus ...
Income from foreign tourism in 2003 was only $ 11.5 million. The beginning of the development of rural tourism in Belarus can be considered 2006, when a presidential decree No. 372 was issued on the development of agricultural and ecotourism in the country. In 2017, the Decree "On the establishment of a visa-free procedure for the entry and exit of foreign citizens" was signed. This document sets out the procedure for visa-free visits. Of course, what is being done is yielding results. In 2018, 365.5 thousand people entered Belarus, and more than 213 thousand were residents of the far abroad. In 2017, foreign travelers in Belarus spent $ 790 million. If in 2006 there were only 34 agricultural estates in Belarus, then at the beginning of 2018 there were already 2319 of them. domestic tourism has made it possible to employ tens of thousands of our citizens, which is also a very important factor for our country.
What, apart from visa-free travel, contributed to the development of this business?