BELARUS REAL ESTATE MARKET COMES CLOSE TO INVESTMENT BOOM

BELARUS REAL ESTATE MARKET COMES CLOSE TO INVESTMENT BOOM

Approaching the Investment. Construction. Development in Russia and CIS - Dealmakers Forum we focus on the following news bulletin on the investment attractiveness of the real estate market in the Republic of Belarus.

Currently, the real estate market of Belarus, which has been stagnant for a long time, is very close to the active development phase. Successful completion of office real estate ventures in 2006-2007, plans for implementation of the large-scale ‘Minsk-City’ project, considerable interest in Belarus from international consulting companies, the upturn of professional skills of domestic developers – all these trends indicate the positive progress dynamics of the Belarus real estate market.

In recent years, the office real estate market has been developing at a very sound pace, in particular in the segment of Class А and В+ offices, which is getting closer to maturing. However, today the markets of logistic and shopping real estate are characterized by high demand, primarily due to a tangible shortage of supply.

Warehouse logistics in the Republic of Belarus prove to be the most attractive segment of the commercial real estate market. Traffic streams linking Russia, Ukraine, South-West Asia and Europe run across the territory of Belarus. This favorable geographical situation benefits the republic’s development as a transit territory. Should the government elaborate and endorse the strategy needed for such development, the necessity to construct large logistic facilities in Belarus will arise.

Another factor, which would impact the market growth of warehousing real estate in the Republic of Belarus, would be the advent of network retailers in the market. Presently, some of them are considering the constructing their own logistic terminals for their own needs, but most of them will need to lease warehouse space too.

Before long, Belarus will face high-rise construction development, projects involving multifunctional facilities, further growth of multi-brand trade centers and the increase in the entertainment component, i.e. the real estate market of Belarus is following (but with a substantial delay) the way of its neighboring countries, namely Russia and Ukraine. The growth rates directly dependent on the potential of market players to overcome obstacles, including domestic developers’ scarce funds for project implementation, lack of experience in foreign investments outsourcing, fears on the part of overseas investors regarding the risks incidental to region mastering and expansion of their activities in the market.

However, due to high and unsatisfied demand for real estate objects of various segments and the relatively low level of competitiveness, the real estate market of Belarus represents good soil for investments and implementation of developer projects of various types and scale. Today, this very factor attracts more and more attention not only of Russian or European players, but investors from Arabian countries, such as Lebanon, UAE and Iran.

Participants in Investment. Construction. Development in Russia and CIS - Dealmakers Forum will have an opportunity to review the survey and analysis of the Belarus real estate market, to learn details of a lot of investment projects in the republic and to find partners in the region.

Data from “Belarusians and Market” and “Real Estate in Belarus” were used for compiling the above summary.