Tech Workers Flee Belarus as IT Haven Takes Authoritarian Turn

For the past decade, the strangest thing has been happening in Minsk: Despite the authoritarian rule of Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus’s tech companies have prospered. The country’s programming chops, combined with some of the lowest labor costs in Europe, helped game designers and outsourcing shops win customers around the world. Kirill Golub, the co-founder of startup investing club Angels Band, says that’s under threat.

After a disputed presidential election, police shut down the Internet for three days and brutally attacked demonstrators. The offices of prominent tech companies such as Russian search engine and ride-hailing service Yandex NV and document automation developer PandaDoc were raided. Golub, 41, was arrested near his apartment in downtown Minsk.