12 January 2004
First business incubator appears in Brest

 The first business incubator has been registered in Brest, Belarus' western regional capital with a population of 300,000.
According to Director Gennady Borisevich, a special commission will select the projects worth providing "hothouse conditions" for.
"The businesses that are selected will enjoy a whole range of services, such as organization, accounting assistance, low-rate room lease," he said in an interview with BelaPAN, adding that the enterprises
would receive individual assistance for two to three years until they can "stand on their own feet."
Afterward these economic entities will be asked to help beginners.
The operations of the incubator, which has the status of a limited company, will be funded with the use of proceeds from its commercial activity and the lease of space in its building.
The company will use a building with a total area of about 1000 square meters located on Internatsionalnaya Street. The building formerly belonged to the regional business association.
The incubator is expected to enter full operation in spring. Mr. Borisevich believes that there will be plenty of work to do, as 2003 saw an increase in the numbers of sole proprietors and small enterprises
in the region. There are currently more than 30,000 sole proprietors registered in the Brest region, some 1,900 small
private businesses, 401 businesses involving foreign capital and 483 private farms, together employing some 70,000 people, according to the enterprise department of the Brest Regional Executive Committee. Some 7,000 new jobs were created in the sector last year, which was considerably more than in 2002.
Nonetheless, there are only two private businesses per 1000 population compared with six in Russia and 35 in Poland.