Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
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Re: Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
#2In Belarus, there are quite a lot of high-tech companies, many of them very successful. At the same time, there aren't a lot of big private enterprises (non-government-owned nor -affiliated) in other areas.
The reason is simple: the regime cannot appropriate intellectual property. If the thugs come and put a hi-tech company under arrest, all they can "collect" is .. desktops and monitors. The real value — be that in code or in employees' heads — cannot be arrested, and the company can continue what they did under a different cover (or from a neighboring country).
The regime understands that too, so they took a somewhat laissez-faire attitude to hi-tech.
Re: Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
#3I really don't understand what are these protesters trying to achieve. I like Belarus and spent years there. Hard to guess why would anyone want to shake the boat and risk the country getting annexed by Russia.
Re: Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
#4I really don't understand what are these protesters trying to achieve. I like Belarus and spent years there. Hard to guess why would anyone want to shake the boat and risk the country getting annexed by Russia.
They want to have a say in their country's future.
Re: Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
#5I really don't understand what are these protesters trying to achieve. I like Belarus and spent years there. Hard to guess why would anyone want to shake the boat and risk the country getting annexed by Russia.
Fair elections.
Re: Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
#6I really don't understand what are these protesters trying to achieve. I like Belarus and spent years there. Hard to guess why would anyone want to shake the boat and risk the country getting annexed by Russia.
They want to have a say in their country's future.
The choice is simple: Lukashenka or Putin. I'd pick Lukashenka, at least some form of quasi-independent Belarus is better than none at all. It is so patently obvious that no non-manipulated Belarus will be allowed to exist... Just because all country is Russian speaking - even to a bigger degree than Crimea and is wholly owned by the Russian propaganda reality tunnel.
Re: Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
#7In Belarus, there are quite a lot of high-tech companies, many of them very successful. At the same time, there aren't a lot of big private enterprises (non-government-owned nor -affiliated) in other areas. The reason is simple: the regime cannot appropriate intellectual property. If the thugs come and put a hi-tech company under arrest, all they can "collect" is .. desktops and monitors. The real value — be that in…
Successful Belarusian high-tech companies are not in Belarus (mostly in Cyprus, some in Lithuania or Poland - founders and their families and some key people simply emigrated from Belarus once they become successful). And Belarusian legal entities just outsource for them. This is why they are usually not raided: owners don't come over to Belarus much or at all anymore, IP is owned offshore, and what is the benefit of harassing workers?
Re: Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
They want to have a say in their country's future.
The choice is simple: Lukashenka or Putin. I'd pick Lukashenka, at least some form of quasi-independent Belarus is better than none at all. It is so patently obvious that no non-manipulated Belarus will be allowed to exist... Just because all country is Russian speaking - even to a bigger degree than Crimea and is wholly owned by the Russian propaganda reality tunnel.
I don't believe those are the only choices.
Re: Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
#9I really don't understand what are these protesters trying to achieve. I like Belarus and spent years there. Hard to guess why would anyone want to shake the boat and risk the country getting annexed by Russia.
Fair elections.
This is a pipe dream. If someone who isn't a Putin handpicked puppet gets elected, country will be taken over. Face reality: even the Belarusian KGB people are trained in Moscow (they don't have an academy of their own, just kept things the way they were in Soviet times). It's just a facade of independence. Whatever small bits of real independence exist, are only there of Lukashenka's personal ambitions to "own" the country - with him gone, nothing at all (and not even opinion of majority of people who are Russian at heard and see their independence as a historical fluke) will hold Putin from formally annexing the country.
Re: Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub
#10In Belarus, there are quite a lot of high-tech companies, many of them very successful. At the same time, there aren't a lot of big private enterprises (non-government-owned nor -affiliated) in other areas. The reason is simple: the regime cannot appropriate intellectual property. If the thugs come and put a hi-tech company under arrest, all they can "collect" is .. desktops and monitors. The real value — be that in…
Successful Belarusian high-tech companies are not in Belarus (mostly in Cyprus, some in Lithuania or Poland - founders and their families and some key people simply emigrated from Belarus once they become successful). And Belarusian legal entities just outsource for them. This is why they are usually not raided: owners don't come over to Belarus much or at all anymore, IP is owned offshore, and what is the benefit of…
See EPAM with 2,500 employees in Belarus. Do you know of any other non-government entity with that amount of workers?