Belarus’ Share of Industrial Park Will Make 40%

The park will occupy a total area of 8,048 hectares (19,890 acres) in the Smaliavichy district near Minsk and have the status of a “special economic zone” whose residents will be granted special legal status for 50 years, says the presidential press office.

Companies resident in the park will specialize in electronics, biomedicine, fine chemistry and machine-building.

The park will be a qualitatively new territorial entity whose infrastructure will be designed for business efficiency, the press office said.

An interstate coordinating council will function as the supreme governing body of the park, which will be managed by an administration to be appointed by the Council of Ministers.

A joint Belarusian–Chinese company will be responsible for the development of the park, which will include the designing and construction of the facilities stipulated by the general plan, investment, and the development of its infrastructure.

Although Belarus will hold 40% of the company, while 60% percent will belong to China, Belarus will not lose control of the park, the press office said. The most important decisions will be made by a board of directors, where Belarus will have a “blocking vote.“

Until 2027, the income tax rate for the employees of the park's resident companies will be nine percent, three points less than elsewhere in Belarus.

The “Strategic investors” will be granted the same concessions as companies in Belarus’ Free Economic Zones, High-Technology Park and small and medium-sized cities.

According to the press office, the park will have the most favorable conditions for carrying out “large investment projects.”

The presidential edict prohibits the construction of the park’s facilities in areas that belong to cities, villages and dacha compounds, the press office stressed.

An interstate agreement on the establishment of the Chinese–Belarusian Industrial Park was signed in Minsk in September 2011 and ratified by the Belarusian parliament in December.

In February 2012, the ‘Tell the Truth!’ civil movement started collecting signatures for a petition against the establishment of the park. The movement accused the Belarusian authorities of failing to inform common people about the possible environmental impact of the project and alleged that about 600,000 Chinese workers would be brought into the country.

The petition, bearing hundreds of signatures, was sent to Aliaksandr Lukashenka on March 1, 2012.

Mr. Lukashenka said that Chinese companies would invest dozens of billions of dollars in the project, whose scale he said was unprecedented even for China. “The most state-of-the-art enterprises will be started,” he said. “Companies from all over the world will be involved.”

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