On October 27-28, the Association of Belarusian Business Abroad (ABBA) together with the research center CASE Belarus under the patronage of Sviatlana Tsikhanovskaya will hold a Belarus Business Forum in Warsaw. The event will take place at the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the largest financial exchange in the region.
Speech of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya:
“Dear guests and speakers of the Belarus Business Forum,
I would like to thank you all for joining us today. And I am thankful to my economic team who organized the forum.
A strong and developed private sector of the economy is one of the main pillars of democracy. If we look at the democratic countries, they all have large private sectors, and most of the population is employed in private businesses.
Entrepreneurs, who built their companies from scratch, are the main drivers of the economy. They innovate, create jobs, and unite the society through their businesses that often become places of social interaction and civil engagement. Business people create prosperity for themselves, their employees, and working partners. They support the most vulnerable social groups by paying taxes and launching responsible business leadership initiatives. They create business networks and support each other. They improve our everyday life by filling our needs in the most innovative ways. Almost all the technological things we use today and cannot imagine our lives without anymore, were created in the private sector.
At the same time, entrepreneurs and businesspeople are the enemies of dictatorship regimes. These people know their worth, they have high self-esteem based on their real-life achievements and cannot be manipulated by propaganda. They cannot be told what to do, as they don’t have supervisors above them. They are not afraid to speak up as their livelihood does not depend on the government as opposed to people employed in the public sector. My husband, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, is a perfect example of a businessman who stood up against the dictatorship in Belarus.
This is the reason why the current regime in Belarus is attacking private businesses, daring to stand up against the dictatorship. The illegitimate government in Belarus uses all the tools available to it to repress and prosecute the businesspeople – from unwarranted inspections by various public service departments to ungrounded tax evasion convictions and criminal prosecutions. It is not uncommon in Belarus for a businessman to be convicted and imprisoned based on fake accusations and then being requested to pay an enormous bribe to be freed from jail.
Most businesspeople imprisoned for their political position are not even recognized as political prisoners, as they are officially convicted of economic crimes. We can state that business owners became one of the most vulnerable social groups in Belarus today, constantly targeted by the regime. We expect the situation to worsen. We know that soon the illegitimate government will be in search of additional money. The sovereign debt is very high and expensive, while the refinancing opportunities are limited. We anticipate that soon the officials will come to every business, including small businesses, in search of money. Many businesses will be destroyed and closed. Some people will have to flee Belarus to stay out of prison, in addition to hundreds or even thousands of those who have already done this.
Therefore, it is critical to protect our Belarusian business community. Unfortunately, it becomes almost impossible to do so inside Belarus, as all the actions by the civil society are brutally suppressed and prosecuted.
Today, we are gathering in the legendary place for many businesses – the largest stock exchange in the region, the Warsaw Stock Exchange – to discuss how we can unite, help, and protect the Belarusian business community abroad to preserve our talented entrepreneurs for future Belarus. Here I would like to say a special thanks to Marek Dietl, Warsaw Stock Exchange CEO, and his whole team for providing us with such an opportunity.
We need to find ways to support our business people who flee Belarus for political reasons. We need to organize a safe harbor for them, where they will get assistance and will not be abandoned. This is our opportunity to build a strong and thriving Belarusian business community, like the one that exists in Poland, for example.
We are very grateful for all the support we are getting from Poland, European Union, and all democratic countries. We will always remember those people and those countries who gave us a hand when we needed it the most.
I’m aware that the main objective of this support is to help businesses inside Belarus. However, I would like to stress the importance of supporting Belarusian business owners in exile as well. These people demonstrated courage to stand up and not be silent, and now most of them have lost everything and need to start from zero in a new country.
If we help them now, they will be able to get back up on their feet and be ready to come back to Belarus or invest in Belarus and start building the new economy once the dictatorship regime topples.
The members of my economic team organized this forum to bring all the stakeholders to the table, so we can jointly come up with solutions on how this assistance to Belarusian businesspeople in exile can be done.
Also, under my patronage, the Association of Belarusian Business Abroad was established as the organization responsible for creating a network of Belarusian businesses abroad. It will also ensure that the voices of Belarusian businesses in exile are heard, and the necessary assistance to them is provided.
I remain optimistic about the economic future of free Belarus, as we have many very talented entrepreneurs who were able to build successful businesses in a very tough environment and despite all the obstacles that existed. We can only imagine what they will achieve once favorable conditions for doing business are created, and there is no more fear of losing everything.
My economic team works on the needed reforms for future Belarus that will stimulate the creation and growth of small and medium enterprises, creating jobs, paying taxes, and building a strong middle class.
We are not afraid of the economic challenges that the new Belarus will face, as we already know so many ways to overcome them:
- Sanctions will be lifted.
- The private sector will expand thanks to the liberalization reforms.
- Many talented Belarusians will return home either as competent business managers, private investors, and business people, university professors, or even consumers who will create demand for local businesses.
- Public enterprises will be evaluated, and some will be privatized, others will undergo a major management change.
- The European Union will provide €3 billion economic support package that was promised to a future democratic Belarus.
- Other democratic countries such as US, Canada, UK and others as well as international organizations will also provide their support and financing.
We know that the whole democratic world is interested in supporting free Belarus. But first, we need to support Belarusian businesspeople who will build this new Belarus.
Finally, I would like to tell Belarusian businesspeople that they will be respected and will get special treatment in the new Belarus, as not only will they bring prosperity to the country, but will also protect us from dictatorship.
This Forum is a continuation of our Program of support to members of the striking movement as well as citizens and businesses affected by repressions. The economic losses suffered by the businesses for their political views, will be compensated in the free Belarus. In the meantime we need to support these businesses in exile and we ask our democratic partners to help us with this.
Thank you!”
