Neighbouring countries from Ukraine to the Baltics have rolled out the welcome mat for people and are wooing companies to relocate with fast-track immigration procedures, tax breaks and help finding office space.

Poland, for example, has set up a 24-hour hotline and offered fast visas, Polish language classes for children and funding for start-ups.

Some Belarusian tech firms are transferring employees abroad or looking to move out altogether, saying a crackdown on protests made employees feel unsafe and internet blackouts disrupted business.

For countries offering to take in IT workers, it is a chance to scoop up professionals from a thriving industry that accounts for five percent of Belarusian exports.

Some 2,000 IT workers moved from Belarus to Ukraine since mass protests broke out following the 9 Augustt election, Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

Latvia said 12 companies had decided to move. Lithuania’s investment agency has been talking to over 85 companies in the wake of the election turmoil, according to Director of Business Development Gediminas Koryzna.