Head of Administration of FEZ "Vitebsk" - about competitive advantages and trends in this sphere of economy

The free economic zone "Vitebsk" has been developing dynamically for 27 years, confidently consolidating its result with new projects. The contribution of its residents to the economy of the northern region is significant. In the first half of 2026, they accounted for 16.3 percent of industrial goods production, 15.3 percent of commodity exports, and 29.5 percent of foreign direct investment.

Due to the introduction of modern production and management technologies, residents of FEZ Vitebsk produce products that are competitive in foreign markets (the share of exports in the total sales volume for January-June 2026 amounted to 66.9 percent), solve import substitution issues, demonstrate higher labor productivity, profitability of products, ensure the flow of foreign exchange earnings to the country. On the competitive advantages of working in the FEZ and trends in this area of the economy, the head of the administration of the free economic zone “Vitebsk” Mikhail Skurat talked.

- Vitebsk Free Economic Zone is a territory for attracting investments and developing high-tech industries with tax and customs privileges. The occupied area is 2.4 thousand hectares and includes 17 sectors, including seven of them are located in Vitebsk, five in Orsha district, one each in Polotsk, Miorsky, Tolochinsky districts, Novopolotsk and Postavy.

One of the key advantages of FEZ "Vitebsk" is a favorable geographical position at the intersection of transport routes. Railway and road corridors in the east-west and north-south directions pass through the region, and the main transport hubs are Vitebsk, Orsha and Polotsk. The developed railway infrastructure provides direct and efficient communication with the People's Republic of China and prompt shipment of goods, including to the main transshipment points of Belarusian export cargo in the Russian Federation. First of all, to the ports of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, including Ust-Luga, where container, general and bulk cargoes are serviced. Convenient logistics guarantees investors, who have placed their production facilities in our country, optimal access to the markets of the EAEU, CIS, and far abroad and contributes to their effective work for export.

- What new projects are being implemented in FEZ Vitebsk?

- Currently, 54 investment projects are being implemented in the territory of FEZ Vitebsk in various industries, including mechanical engineering, production of electrical equipment, polymer products, food, textile and pharmaceutical industries. Among the new projects, I will note the creation of a cable processing center for nuclear power plants with an accelerated electron (OOO Energokomplekt), the construction of a fish processing enterprise (OOO Sea Seasons), the organization of the production of innovative veterinary drugs at the enterprises of VIK-animal health and Belkarolin LLC. The release of communication tools of the DMR standard plans to establish OJSC Communications Technology. The introduction of the technology of integrated protection of metal structures from corrosion with a synergistic effect of galvanizing and powder coating goes to JLC "Novopolotsk plant of technological metal structures". Further modernization continues Orsha flax plant. Their project is related to the in-depth processing of short flax fiber and the organization of production of high-numbered ring yarn at Factory No. 1.

- How is the FEZ infrastructure and sites developing?

The focus is on providing land and production sites with the necessary engineering infrastructure: roads, electricity, gas and water supply, sewerage, telecommunications networks and other communications. In some territories, investors have access to production and storage facilities, as well as transport and logistics facilities. In general, the infrastructure is developing taking into account the needs of existing and potential residents, which contributes to the creation of modern industries, the expansion of cooperation between enterprises and the emergence of new jobs.

I would like to note that the administration of FEZ Vitebsk is the only one among the administrations of all free economic zones of Belarus that provides residents with engineering services for integrated management of construction activities, including the functions of technical supervision and the customer. One of the promising areas that we are actively developing is related to the implementation of an investment project for the construction of multifunctional prefabricated modules of various areas (5, 10, 20 thousand square meters) with the subsequent transfer to resident investors for rent with the right of redemption. The advantages of this project increase the investment attractiveness of FEZ Vitebsk due to the fact that the investor has the opportunity to quickly locate and start production. He chooses the area of the module and adapts the premises to his needs with the possibility of phased expansion.

- We have been working closely with Uzbekistan and China since the beginning of the year. What agreements have been reached?

- Several visits of delegations from Andijan and Kashkadarya regions of Uzbekistan took place, online negotiations were held with representatives of the Directorate for Management of Industrial Zones of Tashkent. Their result was the signing of a roadmap for the implementation of the investment project of the three-stage woodworking production of Andijan Invest JSC, Makro Farm Andijan LLC as a resident of FEZ Vitebsk and a Memorandum of Understanding between Texnopark LLC and the administration of FEZ Vitebsk. An agreement was reached with representatives of the Directorate for Management of Industrial Zones of the city of Tashkent on a visit in the second half of 2026 for a more detailed acquaintance with the investment and industrial potential of FEZ Vitebsk, infrastructure on the proposed free land plots.

Cooperation with Chinese partners is also developing fruitfully. In the first half of 2026, the export of residents of FEZ "Vitebsk" to China increased 2.3 times. Agreements on joint projects have been concluded, and in November a delegation of the free economic zone is scheduled to visit Shandong province. The main goal is to strengthen existing contacts and expand partnerships. A number of high-level negotiations, business meetings on establishing business contacts, signing a memorandum of cooperation, visits to enterprises on the industry interests of the delegation participants are planned. Time for effective decisions – Speaking about the trends in the activities of free economic zones in Belarus, in your opinion, what is the main task they are solving today?

- First of all, SEZs are being transformed into centers of sustainable technological development through the creation of high-tech import-substituting and export-oriented industries. In the context of changing foreign markets, the emphasis has shifted from simply attracting capital to deep modernization of the economy, ensuring technological sovereignty and introducing green technologies. In this regard, the priority task of FEZ is import substitution and cooperation. It is necessary to deploy production facilities capable of replacing critical imports of equipment, components and raw materials. The next task is to reorient exports and build new logistics chains. The main directions are the regions of Russia, the EAEU and Asian countries. It should be borne in mind that a leap forward is impossible without innovation and automation. The transition to the modern level of work implies the robotization of production processes using the capabilities of artificial intelligence and scientific achievements. The course on green technologies becomes an obligatory requirement of the time. Energy-efficient solutions and circular waste-free production prove that modern business can and should be environmentally responsible.

- How active is the business interested in accommodation in free economic zones?

- Shows a steady interest. Indicators of activity are the registration of new residents, the growth of investments in fixed assets, the development of cooperation with foreign partners, including the launch of production facilities together with investors from China and other countries. For example, in 2026, four organizations were registered as residents of FEZ Vitebsk with a total investment in fixed assets of 37.5 million rubles, the creation of 199 jobs. Currently, we provide comprehensive support for investment projects of ten companies from the Russian Federation, China, Uzbekistan, Belarus for subsequent registration as FEZ residents with a total investment in fixed assets of about 300 million rubles.

- Which is more important for investors: tax breaks, infrastructure or administrative support?

- For investors in the FEZ "Vitebsk" in the first place are tax and customs benefits, as they directly determine the return on the project, but their value is disclosed only in combination with the existing infrastructure and administrative support for the implementation of projects from the administration of the FEZ.

- Which foreign economic zones in the world do you consider an example to follow?

— For FEZ Vitebsk, which has a pronounced industrial, production, export and logistics orientation, taking into account the concentration of enterprises in the field of mechanical engineering, woodworking, electronics and veterinary medicine, the most relevant examples for imitation at the world level are zones with a similar structure that have made a qualitative technological breakthrough. Among them are the SEZ "Alabuga" (Russia) with experience in creating turnkey infrastructure, construction of ready-made production buildings under the requirements of a specific investor and the development of its own educational center for training personnel. We're moving in that direction, too. Shenzhen FEZ (China) is interesting as an example of the evolution from simple assembly to high technologies, and Singapore’s special zones (Yurung) are the leaders of the cluster approach, the development of cooperation that unites many enterprises into single supply chains. While studying their experience, we also try to develop according to the available opportunities.

- How difficult is it to work with investors today?

- Attracting foreign investment at the present time is not easy for all Belarusian FEZs due to sanctions pressure and restrictions on operations with Western capital. However, the process is proceeding through a reorientation to partners from CIS and Asia. So, in the first half of 2026, the volume of attracted foreign investments in the FEZ Vitebsk amounted to 15.5 million dollars. The main focus is on finding investors from friendly countries and developing cooperation with Russian and Chinese companies. Foundation for Growth – How have sanctions, global competition, and changing logistics affected SEZ operations?

Loss of access to foreign technologies, advanced equipment and high-quality raw materials by FEZ residents reduced the competitive advantages of their products. This led to the loss of some export markets. In addition, a negative impact on the profitability of manufactured goods and the volume of profit received had an increase in the cost of logistics, an increase in the timing of obtaining the necessary resources and the delivery of final products to the consumer. To a certain extent, this becomes an obstacle to the implementation of new investment projects, including the construction of production facilities. At the same time, the active search for alternative solutions and measures taken by residents of FEZ Vitebsk to conduct business in the new realities in the first half of 2026 demonstrate a positive dynamics of economic activity indicators, allow to consolidate the achieved results and ensure stable development in the near future.

- What results of FEZ "Vitebsk" can be called the main achievements of recent years?

- First of all, this is an increase in investment in fixed assets. At the end of 2025, the volume of investments in the real sector of the economy reached 253.7 million rubles with a growth rate of 159.3 percent to the level of 2024, which exceeds the target by 9.3 percent. In the first half of 2026, this indicator amounted to 126.7 million rubles, the growth rate was 145.8 percent, respectively. I cannot ignore the success of FEZ Vitebsk in import substitution: in January-June 2026, import-substituting products worth $278.9 million were produced (114.6 percent compared to the same period in 2025). Conditional savings of foreign exchange funds due to supply to the domestic market amounted to 15.6 million dollars. An important indicator is the creation of new industries. New residents are regularly registered in FEZ Vitebsk, which allows creating hundreds of additional jobs. For the first half of 2026, this figure amounted to 176 new vacancies. The adaptation of exports also has a huge impact on the final result. Residents of our economic zone were able to redirect logistics and commodity flows to new markets of friendly countries after the introduction of restrictions by the EU. The natural result of strenuous efforts is the growth of exports of goods by residents. In the first half of this year, this figure amounted to 512.5 million dollars, or 121.6 percent to the level of 2025. Together, this allowed us to firmly hold a place in the top three among all FEZs of Belarus in terms of growth rates of the main economic indicators.

- What areas of activity do you consider priority for development in the next 5-10 years?

- The key ones cover several promising industries at once. In the foreground are mechanical engineering and automotive components with an emphasis on mastering the production of complex equipment, machines and components for vehicles. Innovative pharmacy is developing dynamically, which will ensure the needs of medicine and veterinary medicine with modern biotechnologies and import-substituting medicines. Close attention is paid to the food industry and projects related to deep woodworking. The foundation for their growth will be the development of production, engineering, transport and logistics infrastructure of the territory of FEZ Vitebsk.

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