Page 13 - UKRRptOct20

for closer cooperation that could include more military exercises, more supplies, or in the most unlikely case, a NATO peacekeeping mission,” Zenon Zawada of Concorde Capital said in a note.
“We view these moves with cynicism because at the same time that Zelenskiy is singing the praises of NATO integration, he is allowing Ukraine’s Putinist fifth column to gain key positions in government (particularly law enforcement), to wage its current campaign to dismantle the independent anti-corruption legal framework, and to pressure him to capitulate to Russian demands in Donbas, among other “Euro-Atlantic sins.” That pro-NATO legislation was passed last week (and almost certain to be signed by Zelenskiy) means little if Zelenskiy allows the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office to lose their independence. Or if local elections are allowed to be held in Donbas in late October, which are likely to be unfree and unfair,” says Zawada.
“As the example of Belarusian President Lukashenko has shown, the West won’t be satisfied with mere flirtations and small exchanges. The West wants a complete commitment from Ukraine that requires a fundamental transformation of the nation’s institutions and policies, without, which the declarations of this national security strategy will be dismissed as hollow. So far, Zelenskiy has shown he is a mere flirt, and not a serious, committed partner of the West,” says Zawada.
2.6​ Recruiting Belarus IT workers
Ukraine’s Digital Transformation Ministry has opened a special web portal for Belarusian IT specialists who want to move to Ukraine and has hired Denis Aleinikov, a Belarusian lawyer who developed a special, low tax IT zone in Minsk.
“About our initiative to support IT professionals living in Belarus...there is technical support, which works 24 hours a day and already helps specialists from Belarus,” Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s digital minister, said Friday while introducing Aleinikov to reporters. Of the 4,500 Belarusians who have fled to Ukraine to escape the police violence in Belarus, more than 300 are IT workers, Fedorov said.
With this investment regime, Fedorov aims to create an additional 450,000 IT jobs in Ukraine by 2025, generating $12bn in economic activity. Last year, Ukraine’s IT exports grew 30% y/y, to $4.2bn. Currently, Ukraine’s 4,000 IT companies employ 200,000 specialists. Short of staff, Ukrainian companies look north to Belarus where 60,000 IT specialists work in Minsk alone.
“Belarusian tech companies leave their country amid protests, move to Ukraine” headlines a Kyiv Post article featuring interviews with Belarusian IT workers who are moving or considering moving south. After the largely discredited Presidential vote of August 9, 168 IT workers were arrested in protests. Since then, the internet has been repeatedly turned on and off. Over 2,500 IT executives and workers signed an open protest letter to President Lukashenko. “People can’t focus on work because of the constant stress,” George Kachanouski, founder of Scootapi, says from Minsk. “Many companies plan to relocate temporarily now, but if the dictatorship wins, then for good.”
13​ UKRAINE Country Report​ October 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com