“It is noteworthy that German companies, which have identified the overall economic situation in the country as tense and very difficult, are very positive about the prospects of their enterprises in Belarus.” This unexpected result was revealed in the survey of the business climate in the Republic of Belarus, which is conducted annually by our member and partner German Economic Representation Office among German companies. The annual survey “Business climate in Belarus” contains a number of questions from micro- and macroeconomics and is a timely source of information on the current economic situation and its likely development in relation to German companies in Belarus.

Meanwhile, presentations of the results of the survey made by Vladimir Augustinsky, the Head of the German economic representative office, during the Club’s soiree have become a good tradition which continued this year to the delight of all the Club members. The resonance among the Club members was high as usual, which was proved by a lively discussion between the speaker and the Club members, many of whom, being heads of German companies in Belarus, took part in the survey themselves. At the same time, the discussion covered certain aspects in more detail, such as the assessment of employee qualifications, as well as the assessment of labor law.

Vladimir Lvovich finished his speech with the presentation of current and planned events of the German Economic Mission this year.

Then the presentation of the range of marketing services of the German Economic Information Center was made by Julia Buraeva, its director. The service subsidiary of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce offers services for both existing and those planning to enter the German market, ranging from information gathering to project support – which will definitely help the Club’s individual members to cooperate with each other. The full versions of the presentations by both speakers are available to Club members here.

The evening traditionally ended with an interesting and open discussion between Club members and our guests of honor, the subject matter of which included both topics raised by the speakers and current issues from economics, politics and public life.

We would like to highlight another significant moment of the Club Evening. In connection with the increasingly close cooperation with our partner Free Economic Zone “Minsk” (FEZ “Minsk”), we also had the opportunity to welcome to our evening the Head of Administration of FEZ “Minsk”, Alexander Akhremchik. He warmly thanked the Club for its cooperation, as well as for the support provided, and presented the Head of the Club’s Representative Office, Evgeny Gudi, with a letter of thanks, which in a way shows recognition of our work and that we are on the right track, and we will certainly give him a place of honor.

 

According to a survey conducted earlier this year, excursions to industrial enterprises are among the most popular activities for our members. Responding to these wishes, the Club decided to put more focus on industrial excursions this year and arrange for members to visit famous Belarusian companies, as well as our members’ production sites.

The season of industrial excursions in our Club has been opened by visiting the Belarusian Automobile Plant in Zhodino on April, 29. During this excursion every member could have a look at the heavy machinery production with his/her own eyes, and see the pride of Belarusian auto-industry – Guinness Book of Records the biggest dump truck in the world BelAZ – 75710 with nominal capacity of 450 tons.

In order to keep within 1,5 hours of sightseeing, it is necessary to move around the territory of the plant, where more than 9000 people work, by transport, in our case – by bus. This allows you to get an idea of the scale of the plant-city in a short period of time, as well as get acquainted with current and historical achievements of BelAZ.

The strongest impression, of course, leaves the exhibition area of the plant, which presents samples of vehicles produced by the plant with the lifting capacity from 30 to 450 tons. The stand provides an excellent background for impressive photos, both next to the giant machines, and on the machines themselves, which our participants could not resist taking advantage of. You can also have a look at the experimenting workshop for assembling extra-heavy dump trucks, and see one more example of BelAZ-75710, but in an unfinished state.

Besides the main attraction of the plant – the giant machines themselves – the excursion plan included a tea party with special local biscuits in the shape of a BelAZ dump truck, and also a visit to the plant’s history museum, where we could learn the plant’s history, watch a video about BelAZ trucks working in quarries, and appreciate the plant’s equipment and gifts from all over the world. At the end of the excursion the participants could make a wish, holding a key of a huge BelAZ dump truck in their hands – according to the factory legend, the wishes made “on the key” will come true for sure. And a souvenir mini-BelAZ presented to everyone will be a visible reminder of this excursion.

We hope that our trip to the BelAZ plant pleased both small and large participants and set everyone up for the next events, as another visit to the industrial plant is already planned!

“There are more registered small entrepreneurs per 1,000 people in Belarus than in the EU”. And “The emergence of ‘hidden champions’ was only possible because we did not have privatisation”. Those two statements by our referent and guest of honor Pavel Vladimirovich Daneiko are very peculiar and seemingly contradict everything we, as it seems, know about the Belarusian economy.

Why these statements surprisingly accurately reflect the state of things in Belarus and how they give the opportunity to look at the events in the country and its current status quo from a completely different angle – this and many other things the Club members could learn thanks to the report of our expert, filled with unambiguous and non-standard statements. Pavel Vladimirovich told not only about macroeconomic processes, but also about the history of formation, strengths and weaknesses, strategies and emerging problems of the private sector, especially small and medium enterprises in Belarus. In doing so, he presented a sometimes unexpected but interrelated picture of the situation in the country. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion, during which the topic of the report was explored in more detail, so that Mr Daneiko’s presentation became a kind of master class for all present. Our guest presentation is available to Club members in the “For Members” section.

Also during the evening the Club expressed special thanks to Office Solutions company and its General Manager Alexander Shalaiko for the gift of 2 modern, ergonomic office chairs to the Representative Office of the Club. This gesture was a kind of praise and acknowledgment of the work done, and also a stimulus for further active work.

The Club will be repaying the trust placed in it with an unusually large number of events this month. Thus in April our members can choose between five events.

The evening traditionally ended with relaxed networking and exchanges as part of a festive buffet.

At the Club Evening in March, NBEC members and our guests had the opportunity to welcome two guests of honor and referents at once.

A small group of Club representatives, not wanting to miss out on the last winter entertainment, went to the Dudutki museum complex on 26.02.2017 to celebrate Maslenitsa. The Dudutki museum complex is probably the most famous ethnographic museum landscape in Belarus. Created and operated on a private initiative, the complex offers visitors not only permanent attractions and exhibits but also regularly holds themed events that are inspired by ancient customs and everyday life in the Middle Ages. These events include the summer festival of knights “Our Grunwald” and ” Maslenitsa”, a winter send-off party.

The last days of the year brought good weather: it snowed for the last time and there was ice on the roads – a suitable framework for saying farewell to winter. In addition, “Dudutki” itself seems to be quite a popular place for Minsk residents – the event attracted a lot of visitors to the complex.

We saw, during the 2.5-hour tour around the workshops and other attractions of the complex, that the complex is worth visiting anyway. During the tour, visitors learned a lot about the everyday life of our ancestors from the pre-industrial past and were able to experience their daily struggles. Not least because of the opportunity to see with their own eyes how things were produced in a blacksmith’s, pottery, or weaver’s workshop and to touch the making of everyday items. These objects and some of their own labor (a very topical issue in Belarus) could be taken away as souvenirs. The entertaining tour was enlivened by tastings of organic products – bread, butter, cheese, sauerkraut, lard, and moonshine – that added a special atmosphere to this somewhat different visit to the museum.

A short ride on a horse-drawn carriage showed us the advantages of modern means of transport, especially in winter.

It ended with a traditional round dance around a lit Maslenitsa straw figure.

The only fly in the ointment, as it often happens at public events in Belarus, was rather an inert service in the complex – visitors had to be patient enough to get something to eat and drink. But in the end, we overcame this difficulty, and the quality of the barbeque rewarded us for the previous wait.

Taking these pleasant winter experiences with us, we decided to return to Dudutki again in the summer, better for the Knights’ Festival, and best of all, in the company of numerous Club members.

On 01.02.2017, the regular general meeting of the members of the German-Belarusian Economic Club for 2016 was held.

The first event in the 2017 Club calendar was the Club Evening on 11.01.2017.

On 16 November this year, the German-Belarusian Economic Club and the German Economic Representation Office jointly held the 9th German Economy Day in Belarus. Thus, both organizers successfully continued the tradition of one of the landmark events of the German-Belarusian economic community, which was established back in 2007. Also traditionally the event was held under the patronage of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Minsk.

The venue of the 9th German Economy Day was the conference hall of the Johannes Rau International Education Center, a member of the German-Belarusian Economic Club. The 9th German Economy Day was devoted to the relevant and very controversial topic “Professional personnel in Belarus – condition, potential, cooperation”. After the opening of the event the organizers welcomed all the participants of the 9th German Economy Day by Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Belarus Peter Dettmar and First Deputy Minister of Education in Belarus Vadim Bogush. The speeches of Peter Dettmar and Vadim Bogush set the appropriate tone for the event and served as an impetus for the transition to the substantial part of the 9th German Economy Day – panel discussions. Afterwards, Wolfgang Hombrecher, Senior Advisor at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, presented the BMWI Manager Development Programme, which is exemplary of international cooperation in the field of manager development and will celebrate its 10th anniversary in Belarus on 23.11.2016. During this period, more than 400 managers have been able to take part in the programme and undergo retraining in Germany.

In panel discussions, experts from public authorities and private educational institutions in Belarus and Germany, along with representatives from the economic sector, among whom were also members of our Club, discussed not only the current competitive advantages of Belarusian professionals, such as good professional training in natural and technical disciplines, but also the current challenges caused by the shifting boundaries between technical and natural sciences and the expected increase in demand. Also discussed were already existing cooperation programmes, namely the highly successful DAAD programme in Belarus, the Goethe Institute in Belarus, and the European project “The Bridge”. The discussions were characterised by an unmistakable frankness and constructive straightforwardness and provided all present with interesting information and information for further more in-depth study of the issue.

The first indisputable success of the event was confirmed by the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Club member, Schneider Group and the Club’s partner, FEZ “Vitebsk”.

The official part was followed by a buffet at the Westfalia Restaurant which was a fitting conclusion to the event. During the relaxed communication, representatives from various sectors discussed not only the results of the panel discussions, but also had plenty of opportunities to establish new and develop existing contacts.

The event gathered more than 200 participants from various organisations. Among them were representatives of ministries of Belarus and Germany, public and private educational institutions, business sector – German and Belarusian companies, mostly HR officers.  A special joy for us, as for the organisers of the event, was the participation of the students of the Belarusian State University in the 9th Day of the German Economy. Some of them had an opportunity to take part in discussion of the topic which first of all concerns them directly as future specialists.

Such active participation testified to the great popularity and success of the 9th German Economy Day and confirmed our intention to continue the tradition of the German Economy Days in the coming years.