A business trip to Belarus may not be at the top of everyone's agenda. It is a large, reasonably accessible nation of ten million people, yet it remains largely unexplored for the businessman. You are fined by ever-present militia if you cross the road in the wrong place. There are also plenty of professionals already well-established in their respective fields, eager to make contact and do serious business with other countries in Europe. Several first-stop business centres have been established in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, each of which offers the usual economic statistics, interpreting and sightseeing.
Standards differ, however.
The Swedish Business Centre is no more than a tiny cubicle inside the Hotel Planeta, one of the city's towering monoliths, offering the meekest secretarial services. The BCC is a private company that identifies suitable business opportunities and offers advice and support all the way through to establishing new ventures. When doing business in Belarus, close co-operation with the government authorities is, unfortunately, essential. The BCC say they can handle this, too. Although hardly up against stiff competition, the IBB is the best hotel in Belarus.