Page 28 - BNE_magazine_10_2020

28 I Companies & Markets bne October 2020
bne:Tech
Lukashenko’s crackdown leads to exodus of IT professionals
Ben Aris in Berlin
The restart of Belarus' self-appointed President Alexander Lukashenko's brutal crackdown on protesters has led to a growing exodus of IT professionals that will destroy one of the country’s most successful sectors.
As bne IntelliNews reported, more than 300 top CEOs of IT companies warned they would decamp to neighbouring countries in the first days following the pogrom on protesters unleashed by Lukashenko immediately after the massively falsified August 9 presidential election.
By the middle of the first week the authorities realised the crackdown was not working and backed off, restoring calm. However, after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that he was willing to send a special military unit to quell the protests “if necessary” on August 27, tensions have risen again. Lukashenko has relaunched the crackdown, with OMON
riot police once again randomly snatching people from the street and attempting, largely unsuccessfully, to prevent and break up the many spontaneous demonstrations as well as the organised mass rallies at the weekend.
In this climate Belarus’ IT professionals are choosing to leave. The number of requests from Belarusian IT developers to find
a job in Russia has grown five-fold in the last weeks due to political instability in the country, recruitment companies say, as cited by Kommersant.
In recent years, the direction of migration has been in
the other direction as successful Belarusian IT companies headhunted talent in Russia and enticed software engineers to Minsk on attractive employment packages. In February bne IntelliNews reported on Belarus’ success as it emerged as Europe’s leading high tech hub.
Belarus’ IT sector had been flourishing, earning $2bn from exports in 2019 and still growing by over 30% a year, industry participants told bne IntelliNews in a recent podcast. The sector is now worth 6.5% of GDP, according to Minister of Economy Dmitry Krutoy as cited by BelTA.
“Belarus’ IT sector had been flourishing, earning $2bn from exports in 2019 and still growing by over 30% a year”
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