Dozens of companies and thousands of professionals and their families want to move from Russia and Belarus to Lithuania, says the country’s economy minister. Some companies already have branches in Lithuania and most work in information technology businesses.
The Imaguru startup hub has been operating in Vilnius for six months, after fleeing Belarus amid Minsk’s crackdown on the opposition. Formerly the largest start-up hub in Belarus, it is now expanding in Lithuania.
Read more: Eastern European IT specialists caught in crossfire of war
“There is a huge dynamic, because on the one hand there is a second wave of emigration from Belarus. On the other hand, there is a wave of emigration from Ukraine and other countries from which people are now moving. We are growing very fast,” says co-founder Anastasia Khamenkova.
The Belarusian company, which develops games for mobile phones, is now looking to relocate its branches from Belarus and Russia to Lithuania. The company’s CEO says that businesses and people are fleeing the regime’s political oppression, for economic reasons, or because they do not support the war Russia has started in Ukraine.
“The reasons are complex. Obviously, the events of the last 3-4 weeks, and also the sanctions that have followed. We are moving towards accepting the fact that the IT business in Belarus or Russia, especially the international IT business, will simply not be able to exist,” says Albertas Pocevičius, head of Belka Games Lithuanian division.
The Startup Centre in Lithuania helps to make connections and acts as a mentor.
Thousands of people from Russia and Belarus could come to Lithuania in the near future, says Economy Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė.
“We are working with two groups of companies. First, those companies that are already established here in Lithuania and that still have branches there [in Russia or Belarus] and want to relocate employees and family members. We are also talking to international companies that may want to move their operations from other capital cities to Vilnius,” says Armonaitė.
However, some have reservations about welcoming Russian companies in Lithuania without any screening.
“Will we let in Yandex? We didn’t even want to let the app in. So whom will we welcome? Do we have a white list of who can come and who cannot come?” asks Mindaugas Ubartas, head of the digitech association Infobalt.
According to Armonaitė, however, “the people who are coming here have already been checked by the Lithuanian authorities”.
Infobalt CEO insists that highly skilled IT professionals need to be admitted as quickly and easily as possible, but not companies seeking to relocate.
Lithuanian companies themselves are facing a severe shortage of workers, so absorbing tech labour from Eastern Europe would not be a problem, according to Ubartas.
“We could shoot two birds with one stone: attract highly qualified specialists and take one gun away from the Lukashenko regime or the Russian regime. Because if there is military conscription, those hands will be here working on the computer,” he says.
Belarusians who have already relocated to Lithuania say doing business from here has been relatively easy. Half a dozen Belarusian companies already operate here.
But the everyday life of employees and their families is also important – opening a bank account, arranging insurance, finding jobs for family members with different skills and qualifications, and finding school for their children.
According to Minister Armonaitė, the government is offering assistance for tech workers seeking employment. Meanwhile, companies themselves are forming a cluster to open a school for their workers’ offspring.
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