“Dear guests, dear speakers,
I would like to thank you all for coming to the 2nd Belarusian Business Forum in Vilnius. I am grateful to be here with you today.
Congratulations to the organizers: Association of Belarusian Business Abroad and those who supported this event: Lithuanian Business Confederation, European Commission and USAID.
It is already the fourth such forum organized by ABBA in Vilnius and Warsaw, and it has become a good tradition to gather together, discuss the challenges facing the Belarusian business community abroad and find the solutions. It is extremely important that there is such an association that has become a collective voice of honest Belarusian private business. I wish you further success and I hope you will popularize your mission: Proud to be Belarusian Business.
Let me thank the Lithuanian Government, represented here by Karolis Žemaitis (Vice-Minister of the Economy and Innovation). You contributed to hosting many companies from Belarus. Many people found safety in Lithuania.
I am glad to see here other representatives of the Lithuanian state institutions as well as other international stakeholders. I encourage you to continue supporting honest Belarusian businesses abroad. This is beneficial for all sides apart from the Lukashenka’s regime.
First of all, creating beneficial conditions for relocation of Belarusian business not only saves people’s lives but also counteract the repressions in Belarus. The more the regime puts pressure on Belarusians and Belarusian businesses, the more of them will leave the country. And hence, stop paying taxes, creating jobs and value added there.
Today, the level of terror in Belarus is getting only worse. Every day, around 17 new names appear in the detainee list. Due to repression, over two hundred thousands of Belarusians had to leave the country after August 2020. Many of them had to relocate their business or start it from scratch. For most of them it wasn’t their choice to leave, but rather a necessity to stay out of prison.
They can become valuable partners and good taxpayers for democratic countries. They can bring not only financial dividends, not only create new jobs, but also share expertise within the business communities.
Lithuania is the second largest destination for relocation of Belarusian business with more than 660 companies with Belarusian owners, with thousands of employees that pay taxes, invest, and bring their valuable ideas to life. Three Belarusian companies are on the list of top-10 taxpayers among IT companies in Lithuania, two of them are in the top-3.
The previous Belarusian Business Forum in Vilnius finished just before the Russian invasion on Ukraine started. A lot has changed since then. Democratic Belarus became less important for the world while Belarusians happen to experience signs of discrimination in many countries.
Here, I would like to mention the recent discussion over the new legislation adopted by the Parliament of Lithuania, which makes the legalization of Belarusians in Lithuania a bit more difficult. I am thankful to the Lithuanian government and parliament for eliminating the most harmful limitations.
Belarusians respect the right to ensure the national security of Lithuania. We understand that the root cause of the problem lies in the aggression of two dictatorial regimes that threaten their neighbors. Hybrid attacks, attempts to circumvent sanctions with the assistance of some citizens of Belarus, unfortunately, occur.
Therefore, I urge you to cut off any ties with businesses and people close to Lukashenka, and create ties with honest businesses of democratic Belarus. But how to do it?
One of the ways is to implement the verification procedures. For example, ABBA runs an internal security mechanism – the verification of businesses, to make sure that their members make fair business in the EU, have no relationship to sanctions’ evasion and to the regimes of Lukashenka and Putin. I think this is the way to go.
Therefore, instead of imposing a ban on all Belarusian citizens based on the principle of nationality, it is better to create a mechanism of visa and residency allowance for the owners and employees of the fair businesses that have no threat to the national security of Lithuania.
I am sure ABBA is ready to cooperate with the Lithuanian government and relevant institutions to verify that Belarusian business in Lithuania is in no way connected with the Belarusian regime, does not support military aggression and shares the values of freedom and democracy. I believe a flexible approach will help both to preserve the interests of honest Belarusian businessmen and businesswomen and to guarantee the security of the Republic of Lithuania.
I call for authorities from other countries to host Belarusian businesspeople. I call for international companies to hire Belarusians as employees. I call for international organizations and political influencers to help us in solving key problems of Belarusian business.
The three key problems today are i) growing demand for visas to relocate employers, employees and families; ii) discrepancies when running bank accounts; and iii) poor access to finance and investment due to lack of credit history.
Eliminating those issues will allow our fair entrepreneurs to stay in business and be ready to continue their work in the new democratic Belarus. We can only imagine what they will achieve, once favorable conditions for doing business are created in Belarus and there is no more fear of losing everything.
I dream that we can use the time and opportunities we have now, abroad, to strengthen the foundation of socially responsible and Belarus-oriented Belarusian businesses. That will contribute to future democratic and economic reconstruction of our country. Many talented Belarusians will return home as business managers, private investors and businesspeople. In the new Belarus every single business will count and will be respected properly. And not only will they bring prosperity to the country, but will also protect us from dictatorship.
I am proud of Belarusian business. And I will do my best to make you feel proud to be Belarusian business all around the world.
I am thankful to those who have already been helping us. Together, we are making the history of Belarus and Europe. And I look forward to seeing you all in a new Belarus, which we believe will be very soon.
Thank you!”
