OREANDA-NEWS The Belarusian authorities plan to start work at the factories that have been emptied after the departure of Western companies from Russia. This was stated by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko at a meeting with President Alexander Lukashenko, BelTA reports.

As the politician explained, Belarus has already "slightly missed the moment" and the country will have to compete for the abandoned enterprises with Russian and Chinese manufacturers. "Together with the Ambassador to Russia, we conducted an analysis of the capacities that are still left in Russia, abandoned so far, if I may say so. We need to choose and actively enter these areas now in order to organize production, forming a profit center there and delivering sets of equipment there," Golovchenko said.

The Belarusian president, in turn, clarified that it is necessary to establish production not only in Russia, but wherever it is beneficial for the country. At the same meeting, Lukashenko urged investors not to treat Belarus as a banana republic. He criticized the practice in which they pay local workers "pennies", and all profits are taken abroad.

According to the data provided by IBC Real Estate in March 2023, 139 international companies decided to leave Russia, which accounted for about a third of the organizations included in the study.