Belarus' economy ministry expects investment to increase by 22% before year end

In 2022, despite the fact that sanctions affected foreign sources of financing, equipment supplies and logistics, net foreign direct investment grew by more than 15%. In Q1 2023, the investment growth rate was 101.3% compared with the same stretch a year ago.

The share of reinvestment is increasing - in the economic sense, this means that the owners do not leave the market, develop their business and the money remains in Belarus.

The top three most active investors last year were Russia, the Netherlands and the UAE, those in the first quarter of 2023 were Cyprus, Russia, and the Netherlands. “At the same time, the far distant countries are also demonstrating an increase in the net FDI both in number and share,” the first deputy economy minister said. “The countries of the Middle and Far East have shown an almost 70% increase, which means we see a gradual increase in investment from friendly countries.”

According to Yuri Chebotar, a number of measures have been taken in the country over the past two years to update legal acts in investment, land and property relations, architecture and construction. In particular, procedures in the construction sector have been simplified and the deadlines of some of them have been reduced. Land relations have been improved - local governments have been delegated the right to change the intended purpose of land plots before the completion of the construction of the facility, to provide additional land plots to investors without auctions in order to expand production. The Council of Ministers now decides on the procedure for the withdrawal and provision of land, as well as the transfer of land from one category and type to another. This will help quickly respond to emerging issues.

The powers of district executive committees and local councils of deputies have also been expanded in what concerns property relations and efforts to bring unused property back into use. The draft law “On assisting and promoting investment projects in the Republic of Belarus”, which is designed to significantly improve the climate for capital inflow into the country, is almost ready for adoption.