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If you go to Belarus, you would rather hear that IT prospered because Lukashenka could not figure out how to extract money from it easily. There were a few att
by sam_lowry_ 6y ago
If you go to Belarus, you would rather hear that IT prospered because Lukashenka could not figure out how to extract money from it easily.
There were a few attempts at hostile takeovers of IT companies by state actors, but the state could seize only used equipment. Staff moved on, clients fled.
So, at some point, the state just decided to let IT free at the effective tax rate of 9% (against 52% for the rest of the country).
- SomeoneFromCA 6y agoLiving in Central Asia, I'd say, although Lukashenko was/is a corrupt leader, amount of corruption in educational system was relatively low compared to those in -stans of the former USSR, or even Russia. This a necessary prerequisite for high tech companies to appear and grow.
- evv555 6y agoI think it's a qualitative difference. Belarus has corruption but it's consolidated to the top even if there's more of it. Compare with Ukraine where IT business will be killed off before it gets off the ground because every small time bureaucrat wants their pound of flesh. As a result a significant portion of Ukrainian talent goes through companies that are/were Belarussian even though Ukraine has the center of gravity in terms of talent concentration.