Business case studies in Belarus

SZAO BelGee

International companies that successfully operate in Belarus: lines of business, points of growth and achievements, social responsibility

Investment climate and development clusters in Belarus

To date, Belarus has developed an extensive system of preferential regimes for investors, ranging from incentives for high-tech, export-oriented and import-substituting companies to regional development. Moreover, the existing regimes complement each other. They include:

• free economic zones (in Minsk and all regional centers);
• Great Stone Industrial Park;
• special economic zone Bremino-Orsha;
• High Technology Park;
• investment agreement with the Republic of Belarus;
• medium and small towns, rural communities;
• Orsha District of Vitebsk Oblast;
• south-eastern region of Mogilev Oblast;
• investment projects using public-private partnership mechanisms.

Foreign investment in Belarus increased 13-fold in 2002-2010 while the volume of foreign trade quadrupled.

About $100 billion of foreign investment has been funneled into the Belarusian economy over the past ten years (from 2014 to 2023).

In 2023, foreign investors injected $7.7 billion into Belarus’ real economy (apart from banks). The country’s primary investors include companies of Russia, Cyprus.

At the current stage, the country is completing or has completed such landmark projects as the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP), Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation (BNBC), and a car plant. The future investment program is incorporating new major business initiatives.

The Great Stone Industrial Park is the largest international cooperation project between Belarus and China, occupying one of the key places in the Belt and Road initiative and operating the most comfortable preferential regime. It is convenient European platform for doing business that gains momentum every year. The number of new resident companies is increasing and has already reached 135 (2024). The geography of participants includes China, Russia, USA, EU countries and others. At the initial stages, the Park drew companies that were mainly engaged in logistics and warehousing activities. Today the priority is given to manufacturing.

The main areas of activity for the Park resident companies are: mechanical engineering, electronics and telecommunications, fine chemistry, biotechnology, new materials, pharmaceuticals, logistics, e-commerce, etc. Today the Great Stone has enterprises with the participation of Chinese corporations producing internal combustion engines for passenger and cargo transportation, gearboxes, construction machinery. There are successful projects of Belarusian residents: a joint Chinese-Belarusian producer of unmanned and manned aircrafts, the manufacture of glass for all types of land transport, laser equipment and a wide range of medical products...

Currently, the Belarusian economy is picking up speed despite the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Belarus by the EU, the USA and other countries starting from 2022.

Export is one of the priorities of the country's economy. Today, Belarus exports 64% of its output.

The most important exports are petrochemical products, mechanical engineering products, metallurgy products, wood working products, light industry products, dairy and meat products, furniture, glass, fiberglass, cement.

!!! In recent years, Belarus has become one of the world’s major food exporters. Food products and agricultural raw materials account for more than 20% of the country’s export.

Belarus is among the top 5 exporters of milk and dairy products, top 15 exporters of meat and meat products. It ships high-quality food to more than 100 countries of the world.

Successful business stories in Belarus

Coca-Cola

The manufacturing enterprise Coca-Cola Beverages Belarus is one of the country’s largest companies that have been established using foreign investments.

Coca-Cola entered the Belarusian market in 1994. In July 1997 it opened its first modern production facility in Kolyadichi near Minsk.

Since then, Coca-Cola has expanded and now has seven distribution hubs in Minsk, the oblast capitals, Baranovichi and Bobruisk in addition to a number of offices in the regions and modern infrastructure for selling the merchandise.

Coca-Cola Beverages Belarus (Coca-Cola HBC Belarus) is part of Coca-Cola HBC, which is Europe’s largest and the world's second largest Coca-Cola bottler.

Coca-Cola Beverages Belarus has won a number of awards including:

• Coca-Cola Company President Award for excellence in quality management and environmental protection (2005)
• Best Entrepreneur of the Year in Belarus (laureate in 2006, food industry winner in 2011)
• Belarus’ Product of the Year – Coca-Cola and Bon Aqua (many times)

Coca-Cola is represented on the Belarusian market in a number of ways:

• More than 70% of the company’s partners and suppliers are Belarusian companies.
• Two thirds of the materials used in manufacturing are bought in Belarus.
• For every Coca-Cola employee in Belarus more than ten people are employed to supply raw materials and to render services.

The company produces beverages of international brands in Belarus, as well as local brands - carbonated, non-carbonated and energy drinks, drinking water, juices and juice-containing beverages.

Coca-Cola actively supports charity projects and initiatives in culture, education, youth empowerment, and environmental conservation in Belarus; it cooperates with the Emergencies Ministry, the Belarusian Red Cross Society, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, the Belarusian Children's Fund... The company sponsors the Student Law Olympiad, educational seminars and business trainings for vulnerable population groups, for example, women raising disabled children, orphans, mothers with many children. The company also financially helps orphanages, healthcare institutions and public associations.

The list of major environmental projects supported by the company includes:

• Save Yelnya Together eco-project to restore one of the largest raised bog in continental Europe;
• A long-term project to clean up the Turov Meadow biological reserve, one of largest meadows in Europe where over 50 species of wetland birds nest and stop during their migration;
• Nationwide tree planting campaign Forest Week, eco-campaign We Care, and others.

MAZ-MAN

MAZ-MAN is a Belarusian-German joint venture, a major manufacturer of large-capacity European-quality trucks for regional and international transportation, construction vehicles and special vehicles, and BME frontal loaders.

The enterprise was established in December 1997. The first MAZ-MAZ vehicle was assembled in April 1998.

The MAZ-MAN company combines:

• the modern technology of its German partner (MAN in Munich)
• the experience, manufacturing capacity, and innovations of its Belarusian producer (MAZ in Minsk)

At present MAZ-MAN can make up to 3,000 vehicles per annum and employs over 350 people.

Belarus-made MAZ-MAN vehicles meet all the existing and prospective requirements of European rules and directives, including the UNECE’s emission and noise standards ranging from Euro 3 to Euro 5.

Since 2006 apart from large-capacity trucks the company has been making a lineup of frontal loaders for various industries, including agriculture, construction operations, utilities industry, operations inside the confined space of warehouses and greenhouses and so on.

In 2014 MAZ-MAN started manufacturing an off-road vehicle capable of crossing difficult terrains such as tundra, sand, swamps and virgin snow. The vehicle can also cross water barriers.

Other foreign investment projects in Belarus

The number of projects including foreign investments is on the rise in Belarus. The successful projects also include:

• OAO Stadler Minsk is a Belarusian-Swiss joint venture that makes electric transport for cities and for railways (Belkommunmash and Stadler Rail AG).
• SZAO BelGee is a Belarusian-Chinese joint venture that makes cars.
• SZAO SNA Europe Industries Bisov is a Belarusian-Swiss-American joint venture that makes steel instruments.
• SOOO Mobile TeleSystems is a Belarusian-Russian telecommunications company.
• Santa Bremor OOO is a Belarusian-German company. BREMOR band is one of the largest food manufacturers in Europe. At first, the company focused on finished fish and seafood products, but now it manufactures more than 1,000 different products in over ten categories and under 15 trademarks.

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