fDi magazine – foreign direct investment (FDI) publication from the Financial Times has recently prepared and published a special report dedicated to the Republic of Belarus and its investment opportunities. After a number of visits, interviews, live case studies, they gave an overview of investment and business climate, FDI analyses and companies’ successful stories of doing business in Belarus.
Special emphases were made on investment opportunities of Belarusian Free economic zones,
FEZ Minsk in particular.
Philipp Bruner, CEO of Stadler Minsk, says about the opening of a factory in Belarus, FEZ Minsk.
“We received our first order from Belarussian Railways in 2009, and by 2012 we could see the potential for delivering additional volume to the firm, but this required local input. At the time, we analyzed different opportunities in the former Soviet world, especially the Eurasian Customs Union [EACU], and because of our good relationship with our client and the great conditions of the free economic zone, we decided to take the next step and invest in the country.”
Today, the company serves the world from its Minsk premises and has an order book with clients from as far afield as Latin America, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Norway. Stadler Minsk is now in direct competition with the company’s factories in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Another successful company of FEZ Minsk ADANI demonstrates how a domestic company can thrive both at home and overseas.
“We were formed in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, and there was an opportunity to do something new,” says Elena Lineva, executive director at Adani. The company, which was established by nuclear physics professor and inventor Vladimir Linev, specializes in hi-tech products such as X-ray systems and benchtop analytical instruments for the security, healthcare and scientific industries. “We started out with 26 employees, and our first big project was an automated radionuclide food monitor to detect radiation in food and water supplies for food safety controls in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia after the Chernobyl disaster,” says Ms Lineva. “By 1996, we had launched scanning equipment for medical and security applications, and we now have clients all over the world for this technology.”
The company maintains its headquarters in Belarus but also has facilities in China, Russia, the US and the UK. “We now have 650 employees globally and have plans to continue expanding, including opening ourselves up to investors in international markets through an initial public offering,” says Ms Lineva. Adani continues to see advantages in maintaining its Belarus headquarters. “We have several premises throughout the country,” says Ms Lineva. “At the moment we are in the process of getting approval to build another facility in the Minsk Free Economic Zone. It makes sense to continue most of our functions from here because we have very good opportunities in terms of tax savings on profits, plus we don’t pay customs duties when we receive components from abroad for Adani products for export, and labour costs are lower here than in the US.”
One more successful story of doing business in Belarus, FEZ Minsk, is ALUTECH Group of companies – the leader on the roller shutter systems market and the leading manufacturer of aluminium profile systems and sectional doors in Eastern Europe.
“Belarus continues to be a good location for our company,” says Stanislav Kuzmitsky, deputy director of marketing at Alutech. “Workers are highly motivated, the government has a good focus on business, and you can make a return on capital. Being a European firm, we have European values, making it easier for our clients to enter into dialogue with us than if they were partnering with an Asian company.”
Full version of the report you may find at the following link: https://www.fdiintelligence.com/Special-Reports/2019/Belarus-builds-its-case-for-investment2