Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, Lithuania, Markets and Companies

"The same money laundering and terrorism provisions apply across the European Union. We are planning to draft amendments to the Law on Companies to allow registering not only a company that has a bank account, but also a company that has an account with an electronic money institution," the minister told reporters after meeting with representatives of Lithuanian business associations. 

"Such an amendment is being drafted," he added.  

According to the minister, the government is also planning to amend legislation that currently does not allow employers to bring in employees that do not meet certain qualification requirements.

Some IT professionals in Belarus have no formal education, he noted. 

Andrius Romanovskis, the president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation, believes that Lithuania has a particularly good chance of attracting Belarusian specialists and businesses, due, among other factors, to its geographical proximity. 

"I think Lithuania has the best chances and I think we'll win," he told reporters. "We'll talk to banks (to convince them) to be more flexible and not to be afraid of the Belarusians". 

Lithuanian businesses that have links with Belarus have not yet been affected by the political crisis in the neighboring country, but they do feel some anxiety about the situation, according to Sinkevicius.

Lithuanian investors in Belarus have no expansion plans, at least for now, the minister said. 

"The uncertainty is obvious, and businesses that are dealing with Belarus aren’t talking about next year's plans," Romanovskis said.

Belarusian businesses started actively looking for possibilities to move abroad following the August 9 presidential election whose official results declaring President Alexander Lukashenko the winner sparked mass protests and a government crackdown on their participants.