Belarusian High-Tech HTP Park

Performance indicators

2023: Cut annual exports by a third to $1.8 billion

In August 2024, it became known that in 2023, Belarusian IT companies operating in the country's largest technological cluster, the High Technology Park (HTP), reduced the volume of annual exports by 30% compared to 2022. According to the data presented in the HTP report, the total volume of export supplies amounted to $1.8 billion, which is $900 million less than in 2022.

According to Belsat, the reason for such a sharp reduction was the difficult economic situation, the crisis in the IT industry in Belarus and a significant reduction in the number of foreign orders. In recent years, many foreign companies have avoided cooperation with Belarusian firms and specialists, which has led to a sharp drop in demand for their services.

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Park.by

The report of the High Technology Park of Belarus also noted that the decline in export indicators began back in 2022, when the volume of supplies abroad decreased by $500 million. This was the first drop in exports in the history of the High Technology Park, which previously showed steady growth. Thus, in two years, the total volume of export supplies decreased by almost $1.5 billion.

Export indicators of HTP for 2023 were the lowest in the last five years. This confirms the fact that the Belarusian IT industry is experiencing a deep crisis. The main factor influencing this process was the massive closure and relocation of companies. Over the past 2.5 years, more than 250 IT companies have left the High Technology Park and Belarus. This process significantly affected the foreign trade balance of the High-Tech Park: in 2021 it amounted to $2.8 billion, in 2022 it decreased to $2.4 billion, and in 2023 it fell to $1.7 billion. The drop in exports is directly related to a decrease in the number of customers who previously collaborated with Belarusian developers. ^[1]]

2017-2019

Support for the sphere has led to the fact that the export of IT services in 2017-2019 has grown 2.4 times. Production growth in the first half of 2019 amounted to 166%, the total export of HTP resident services in 2019 exceeded $2 billion. As of January 2020, 758 companies were registered in the HTP with a total number of more than 58 thousand people working in them.

The total export volume of the High Technology Park in 2017 exceeded $1.025 billion. The HTP did not rule out that the volume of exports in 2018 will reach $1.4-1.5 billion.

Residents

At the beginning of 2019, there are 454 residents in the park. These are Belarusian legal entities, many with foreign capital.

Special tax regime of HTP

HTP has a special tax regime for the development of IT business in the country. And although, strictly speaking, it is not a free economic zone, in fact, Park is a jurisdiction that functions on the principle of extraterritoriality. Companies and individual entrepreneurs registered in the Park can enjoy the preferences provided to them regardless of the location of their Belarusian office.

The territory of the HTP is subject to the provisions of the Belarusian Decree No. 8 "On the Development of the Digital Economy," which entered into force in March 2018. According to this Decree, until January 1, 2049, Park residents are exempt from most taxes, including income tax. In November 2018, the Park Supervisory Board approved documents regulating the cryptocurrency industry in detail.

Working conditions of programmers

2020

According to Belstat, the average salary accrued (i.e. before taxes) in the industry in February amounted to about 4,700 bel. rubles. That's more than any other industry and about 4.2 times the national average salary. But already in February, the ruble salary decreased by 1.5% compared to January. In the currency equivalent, due to the growth of the exchange rate, the salary decreased by 3.4%. What can we say about March, when the dollar rose in price against the ruble by more than 16%.

In April, the freezing of projects, the reduction of salaries and the reduction of personnel take place, but all this happens for companies very unevenly. The situation strongly depends on what projects and in what area the developers are working. On the one hand, if the IT project is associated with tourism/rental of premises/rates on sport and other industries that have suffered the greatest blow in the world, then those working on such projects have the hardest time. On the other hand, projects related to communications, remote work, medicine (telemedicine including,), mobile financial services, online investing, etc. are now not only not experiencing difficulties, but even expanding.

2015

In 2015, the average earnings of a Belarusian programmer are $1,500 (the average earnings in the country is $420). The salary of project managers with 10 years of experience in narrow industries (for example, programming for specific mobile phone platforms) reaches 5-6 thousand dollars.

If in the mid-2000s the programmer was just one of the demanded professions, then in 2015 his son's IT specialty was the dream of almost every Belarusian family: it became a guarantee of financial well-being. There is a real war of personnel departments for qualified specialists, so the standard social package in the industry - although typical of any Western company, still looks very impressive by Belarusian standards.

- As a rule, an employee of an IT company buys health insurance, a subscription to a sports or fitness club. Some companies make a discount on lunch up to 50 percent. Somewhere we have rental housing that companies rent to employees for a nominal fee. But housing mainly builds their own - we have programmatic housing cooperatives, several residential buildings have already been built right here on the territory of the HTP.

History

2018: Influx of 200 new resident companies after cryptocurrency decree passed

The decree "On the Digital Economy" (see below) had the economic task of "selling" the "High-Tech Park." "Sold" the legality of tokens. Haipanuli, announcing that everything is possible. Yes, everything is possible, but only through special PVT operators. They caught monsters on bait in the form of blockchain and drove the harpoon along the gills themselves. "

Before the decree, he continues, "everyone did not care about the" High Technology Park "in some kind of Belarus":

"The Americans called us Bela Cruz. And so they had to figure out where we were on the world map. We have been promoted as a country! "Park" scored a huge number of players. They ran to the PVT, where they were told: for now you will do this, that, but the crypt will soon be. "

In the first 12 years of the existence of PVT, only 188 companies came there, and almost 200 more on crypto-hype in 2018 alone. Kirill Zalessky, head of the public information and international cooperation department of the PVT administration, said that after the regulation of the entire cryptosphere came into force in November 2018, another 70 IT firms were registered in Park: "In total, there are 454 residents in it at the beginning of 2019. These are Belarusian legal entities, many with foreign capital. "

2017

Export of High-Tech Park residents exceeded $1 billion

The total export of residents of the "High Technology Park" in 2017 exceeded $1.025 billion. This was announced by the deputy director of the HTP administration Alexander Martinkevich.

'About 45% of what is done in PVT goes to. USA This is the largest consumer of IT technology. In second place is the market. European Union These are countries such as Germany,,,. Great Britain Those Ireland Switzerland engaged in construction, "said industry 4.0 Alexander Martinkevich^[2] of^[3]

Vsevolod Yanchevsky is the general director. Revolutionary decree on cryptocurrencies and smart contracts

It all started on March 13, 2017, when Alexander Lukashenko, Mikhail Gutseriev, Viktor Prokopenya and Vsevolod Yanchevsky gathered in the Minsk office of VP Capital.

The Belarusian leader came with a box of "President" sweets produced by his order by the Kommunarka factory. The box came in handy: instead of the planned hour, the meeting lasted three. The interlocutors ate candy and discussed what to do with the IT sector.

The essence of the plan was explained to Alexander Lukashenko by Mikhail Gutseriev. Viktor Prokopenya said that his partner "helped convey to the president and other high-ranking Belarusian officials why regulation is in the interests of the state."

Another interlocutor of Kommersant compared the role of Mr. Gutseriev with the work of a translator: "" Fichering is when publishers spoil you from all sides, "Prokopenya speaks such an approximately language. Father would not understand such a language. Gutseriev translated. "

Mikhail Gutseriev modestly attributes all his merits to Alexander Lukashenko.

"It was a brave and ingenious decision of Alexander Grigorievich, and for this he is a low bow. No one in the world has thought of it before. Even America. Today, IT product companies are created in America, and we are sending our money there. We need to create conditions for $10 billion to come to Belarus. So that it is not guest workers who come to Belarus to sweep the streets, but intellectually developed people from the USA, Russia, Ukraine, Canada. My personal goal: As part of this initiative, I plan to create my three to five IT product companies. I don't claim more, "the billionaire explained to the portal tut.by.

After meeting behind a box of sweets, work began on new legislation. Two days later - March 15, 2017 - the leadership of the High Technology Park changed. It was headed by a proven associate of the president, Vsevolod Yanchevsky. He has been in the team of the Belarusian leader since the mid-1990s: in the 1994 presidential election, he handed out leaflets and campaigned for the then opposition candidate Lukashenka, and was not mistaken. When the oppositionist became president, Vsevolod Yanchevsky also came to power. For a long time he headed the Main Ideological Directorate of the Presidential Administration, acquired the hardware weight and trust of the first person.

In April 2017, Alexander Lukashenko announced in a message to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly:

The next stage of development will be the construction of an IT country. Everything that is implemented in the field of high technologies in the world should be used in Belarus: artificial intelligence, augmented reality, unmanned vehicles, blockchain technology, digital currencies. "

In July, a draft presidential decree was ready. Vsevolod Yanchevsky oversaw the interdepartmental coordination of the document. An acquaintance of Mr. Yanchevsky described the work he had done:

"Imagine a train of lots of carriages. To get to the head of the train and tell you how fast to move forward, you need to go through all the cars. In each controller: "Stop, what are you carrying?" If you do not convince the controller, he pulls the stop valve. Yanchevsky was the one who passed all the wagons with a decree in his hands. "

The decree was prepared as quickly as possible. The final version went into the presidential administration at the end of 2017. They were in a hurry for a reason. The world was gripped by cryptocurrency fever: the bitcoin exchange rate beat record after record, and on December 16, 2017 exceeded $20 thousand. And five days later, Alexander Lukashenko put his signature under decree No. 8. And there was a sensation.

The document actually establishes in Belarus a free economic zone for any cryptocurrencies. Bitcoins and other tokens can be freely mined, sold and inherited. Moreover, a tax-free regime has been established for individuals - cryptocurrency mining is not considered entrepreneurial activity. Crypto exchanges, turnover of tokens and cryptocurrencies were legalized, IT companies were endowed with benefits, and elements of British law were introduced into the legislation.

The role of the regulator is played by the Belarusian analogue of the Russian Skolkovo, the High Technology Park (HTP), which is subordinate to the president. Only HTP residents can enjoy all legislative advantages.

Changes have also been made to the main provisions of the High-Tech Park. The list of types of activities of companies allowed for joining the HTP has been significantly expanded.

In addition, visas and bureaucratic formalities were canceled when hiring foreign specialists. The documentary burden on HTP members has decreased, many restrictions have been lifted, which have impeded the work of companies with foreign partners. Read more here.

2015

21 thousand people. List of 138 residents

For 2015, only a small part of the 138 IT companies included in it is located on the territory of the HTP: there would hardly be enough space for everyone. The IT community is organized according to the extraterritorial principle: a company can be located anywhere in the country, the main thing is that it meets the HTP criteria. In this case, she enjoys a preferential work regime and contributes to impressive statistics.

21,000 people - the total number of employees working in HTP as of July 2015.

The full list of HTP residents as of June 2015 includes the following companies:

• Apalon Apps, LLC
• "Artesio," UP
• SoftEfX Dev, UP
• Avem, LLC
• Avest, CJSC
• AI JI SOFT BEL, PE
• iBiAi iTiPark, PI
• AJ Dev, LLC
• Aipruvd Software, LLC
• Aitilekt, LLC
• AiAhS Global, PI
• AlpariGroup, LLC
• Altoros Development, LLC
• Artox Lab, LLC
• Atlantconsaltsoft, LLC
• Atlas SOFT, LLC
• Bai Tech Resolution, LLC
• Baylex Maltimedia, PI
• Byte Protet, PE
• BelAbat, SOOO
• Belitsoft International, SOOO
• BelHard Development, LLC
• Brimit, LLC
• Bell Integrator, LLC
• Wyber Media, LLC
• Waimix, LLC
• Vairon iT, LLC
• Viaden Media, LLC
• Viarpi Cloud Solutions, LLC
• Vipiai Development Center, LLC
• VirusBlokAda, ODO
• GalantisSoft, IP
• Gambino, LLC
• GBSOFT, LLC
• Game Stream, COOO
• Gersis Software, LLC
• Godel Technologies Europe, IP
• Dana Networks, ICHPUP
• Jay Networks, ICH
• GENERATION-PI CONSULTING, LLC
• Digigrade, PI
• Euroats, Private Enterprise
• EPBEL, COOO
• IVA-Gomel Park, Subsidiary CPPUP
• XB Softvare, LLC
• In Tu Soft, LLC
• Inventory, LLC
• Intelligent Systems, CJSC
• Intetix Bel, COOO
• IntexSoft, LLC
• Information Technology Alliance, LLC
• Inshurans Solutions, LLC
• IP Bogomolov A.P.
• Issoft solutions, PV
• Itransition, CJSC
• ITS Partner, LLC
• I-Ex-P Capital, LLC
• Kaktussoft, emergency
• System Programming Design Bureau, JSC
• Culix Systems, CJSC
• Lakshmi, NPOOO
• LVO, LLC
• Levereks International, LLC
• Librasoft, LLC
• Luxoft, NT LLC
• Mapsoft, CJSC
• Large-scale solutions, LLC
• Melsoft, PE
• Nauchsoft, JV ZAO
• Nival Netvortk, LLC
• NTLab Systems, Private Enterprise
• New Aichi Outsors, LLC
• Object Style, PMC UI
• Ozone Consulting, SOOO
• OMEGASOFTVER IP
• Pi-consalt buy, LLC
• Pleitika Bel, IOOO
• PMiS-Softproduct, JV
• Predizo, LLC
• Premium Software, LLC
• Application Systems, LLC
• ForecastBel, LLC
• Promvad Soft, LLC
• Relsoft, LLC
• Runa Systems, ECU
• Red Rock, LLC
• Cyberry SiIES, LLC
• Science Vision, SOOO
• Saitodrom, LLC
• Sacrament IT, PCO
• Sampad, LLC
• Samsolushns, PV
• Sberbank-Technologies, LLC
• SVEI, LLC
• Seavus, YOOO
• Sedon BLR, SSSD
• Sensotronics, LLC
• RSI Softver, SCS [7]
• Synes, LLC
• System Technologies, SOOO
• Sitek Engineering, LLC
• Skand, LLC
• Software Security Systems, PE
• SoftGuarantorService, ECU
• Softekas Development, IOOO
• Softekas Flush Solutions, LLC
• SOFTCLUB Development Center, CJSC
• Soft-Perspective, LLC
• SoftTeko, LLC
• Spesifik-Group Softwe Development Division, COOO
• SproIT, HDI
• STYLESOFT, CNPUP
• STDev, LLC
• STKM Media, LLC
• Tectus Media, LLC
• Tekhargroup, LLC
• TKP-Soft, LLC
• Top Soft, IP
• Accurate Solutions, ODO
• UP "E-Vision"
• Management company of Novakom Group Holding, LLC
• Foranks, SOOO
• FordeConsulting, LLC
• FP TRADE, LLC
• HiKvo Solutions, SOOO
• Humen System, LLC
• Numerical Methods, SOOO
• Economics-software, ODO
• Exadel, SOW
• Exxon Ai Ti, LLC
• Exposit, LLC
• Ektiv Technologies, LLC
• EPAM Systems, SCI
• Ericpol Brest, IOOO
• R-Style Lab, IOOO
• Effective Programs, LLC
• YandexBel, LLC
• JAO Bacup, SOOO

Training

Tax breaks are just the tip of the iceberg. The success of HTP would not be possible if there were enough qualified personnel in Belarus.

seem to have created in IT a completely new model for the post-Soviet space of interaction between the industry and the education system," said Tsepkalo, head of the PVT in 2015. He explains the essence of the problem: universities alone are not always enough to recruit personnel, technologies are developing faster than universities manage to update curricula, and this is a global problem

- The first thing we did, - continues the director, - put on interaction with universities, opening 65 laboratories there, - continues the director of PVT. - This is the Stanford model, which is used in Silicon Valley: in addition to compulsory university courses, students can come to electives, which are conducted by visiting professors - most often these are employees of companies included in PVT. They help students bridge the gap between academic knowledge and the real needs of the industry

The average Belarusian IT student gets a job as a programmer in the third or fourth year (the most talented HR managers of IT companies are hunted from the first years). The one who asked for this moment, or a person without technical education can go to the PVT educational center or to other IT courses, the announcements of which hang on almost every Minsk pillar.

In 1990, this model was used by an American of Jewish origin, John Bryce, one of those whose efforts Israel from a mainly agricultural country became a regional IT leader.

- Bryce created a training center for the mass immigration of Jews from the former USSR in the 1990s - he began to teach emigrants there IT specialties, to prepare for work in these centers. He also helped attract several American companies to the country - Motorola, Hewlett-Packard and others, which built development centers in Israel. We created a PVT educational center based on the Bryce model, and it turned out to be very effective.

Training in the HTP educational center is paid. But Park has an agreement with leading companies in the industry: if a student successfully passes the developer's internal tests after completing the courses and gets to his job, then the employer immediately compensates him for the full cost of training. If the tests fail, he does not receive compensation accordingly.

Recently, so many IT courses have been divorced in Belarus that recently the country's Ministry of Education decided to streamline them. Tsepkalo does not see the need for this, because after graduation they do not issue a state diploma.

- In the IT industry, it doesn't matter what your diploma is. It is important what knowledge you have. You may not have a diploma at all, but if you yourself have learned and know some technology, this is what they appreciate.

2014

The revenue of residents is $650 million. Export - 45%

The Belarusian High Technology Park (HTP) earned $650 million in 2014. This is three times more than was spelled out in business plans from 2006, when the institution was created. 45 percent of revenue comes from EU countries, and about 40 more from North America. In 2014, they grew by 30 percent because the base was already too large. In 2015, growth will also be 30 percent. In 2016, revenue, according to management plans, will exceed a billion dollars.

90% of this amount is export income. At the same time, says the director of the HTP, it is important to understand: for the republic on its scale, this is a lot, since revenue in IT - unlike traditional sectors of the economy - is clean.

BelAZ at its best time, in 2005-2006, the balance of payments was $300 million. The volumes of Minsk Tractor seem to be large, it exports cars worth a billion dollars. But in order for him to deliver a billion, he must deliver 950 million in components. As a result, he earns only $50 million in currency. We do not need imported parts. Therefore, the contribution of HTP GDP Belarus to more than all the main engineering enterprises - MTZ, MAZ, BelAZ, Gomselmash, Lidselmash, Amkodor - combined.

And in terms of the share of computer development in national GDP, Belarus, thanks to HTP, came in second place in the region of Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. In the first place is Israel. However, the director of PVT Valery Tsepkalo says that technically his country, in terms of the development of the IT industry, just Israel reminds. At the same time, the main model for imitation, he emphasizes, is Silicon Valley, the hub of high-tech development in the Western United States^[4].

Arrival of developers from Russia and Ukraine

The crisis of 2013-2014 in the neighboring countries helped the Belarusian IT industry lure specialists from there. The story of how Wargaming alone "wholesale" transported 200 game developers from Moscow managed to acquire rumors in the Belarusian IT community. According to Tsepkalo, over the past year, Belarusian companies have also employed several hundred programmers from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine. The HTP director adds that other foreigners work in the Park - from the Netherlands, Germany, the USA, South Korea. But there is no massive influx of expats:

"Objectively, Belarus is not a country where too favorable conditions for immigration have been created," says Tsepkalo

2010s: From outsourcing to building your own IT products

In the 2010s, the industry matures: some companies move from outsourcing programming to creating their own product. Belarus Its own IT brands appear, which are gaining worldwide fame - Viber, Apollon, Maps.Me, Wargaming (publisher of the world's most profitable game World of Tanks). Now a new - "branded" - and old - outsourcing - model is developing in parallel in the country. Outsourcing companies, however, have become fastidious: they take only large external orders - mainly in the banking, financial and oil and gas sectors. So, according to the director of PVT Valery Tsepkalo, productivity is growing: if PVT revenue grows by 30 percent per year, then the number of employees is only 15 percent.

2000s: Special tax treatment

The history of the HTP began in the mid-2000s - with the decree of the President of Belarus, which proclaimed a special tax regime for its residents: a cut income tax and a limited rate of contributions to social insurance funds from one salary. Decree No. 12 "On the High-Tech Park" was signed by the President of the Republic of Belarus on September 22, 2005.

The Belarusian industry of high technologies at that time was represented by the development bureaus inherited from the USSR - Scientific Research Institute of Computers, the Integral plant and the computer factory named after Ordzhonikidze (now MPOVT), as well as many programmers who "riveted" the code on foreign orders, not particularly bothering themselves with paying taxes.

For several years, the mainly outsourcing industry has grown to significant, according to HTP residents, orders from Google, Microsoft, Deutsche Bank and other giants.

See also

• Technoparks of Russia

Notes