Belarus ICT Week: 12 October 2026–18 October 2026

19/10/2026

Belarus' IT-Akademgrad forum in Minsk drew over 300 specialists to discuss artificial intelligence, where the Ministry of Communications and Informatization said it had begun building a 'national AI contour' based on adapted open-source models. Telecom regulator BelGIE's third-quarter ratings put A1 and MTS atop Belarus' mobile network quality rankings, while beCloud extended 5G coverage to Grodno. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget barred Belarusian residents from trading, and Ukraine sanctioned a Belarusian crypto platform. A Belarusian national was among suspects detained over a hack of Russia's Dodo Pizza chain.

IT Sector

The National Cadastral Agency said Belarus' free online service for automatic market valuation of apartments, currently available for Minsk and regional centers, is planned to be extended to district centers. The announcement was made by the agency's strategic development head Aleksei Klimovich at the IT-Akademgrad international forum on artificial intelligence in Minsk, BELTA reported on 13 October.
Sources: BELTA, 13 Oct

Artificial Intelligence

The Ministry of Communications and Informatization said it has begun building a 'national artificial intelligence contour' under the Digital Belarus state program for 2026-2030. The minister said on state channel STV that Belarus will adapt existing open-source large language models rather than develop an original one, with computing servers required to be located inside the country. The announcement came during the IT-Akademgrad forum on AI in Minsk, Reform.news and Minsk CTV Telegram reported on 13 October.
Sources: Reform.news, 13 Oct · Minsk CTV Telegram, 13 Oct

Crypto & Fintech

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget added Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan to its list of prohibited jurisdictions. From 18 October residents of these countries can no longer open new trades, place orders or buy subscriptions; they must close positions and withdraw assets by 21 October, after which account access will be restricted. Observers linked the move to exchanges' compliance with Western sanctions, ONT's Telegram channel and UDF reported on 17-18 October.
Sources: ONT Telegram, 17 Oct · UDF, 18 Oct

Belarus' State Control Committee said it halted a cryptocurrency mining operation on a homestead plot in Gomel district after finding that the resident had illegally installed a transformer substation and organized mining on land designated for other use. The inspection followed a complaint from a resident of a nearby agro-town about the activity, Pozirk reported on 14 October, citing the committee.
Sources: Pozirk, 14 Oct

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on Belarusian cryptocurrency platform White Bird CJSC, a High Technologies Park resident since 2020, and its head Maksim Shabanov, implementing a decision by Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council. The sanctions include asset freezes and bans on withdrawing capital from Ukraine, as well as restrictions on participation in privatization, Svaboda and Polskie Radio reported on 12 October.
Sources: Svaboda, 12 Oct · Polskie Radio, 12 Oct

Infrastructure

State radio frequency service BelGIE published its third-quarter 2026 mobile network quality monitoring results. A1 received the highest overall integral quality score and led in most categories, including voice and data transmission. MTS topped the ranking for mobile internet quality specifically, with data transmission success reaching almost 98.6% and the share of fast 4G/5G connections exceeding the field, state media including Vitvesti reported on 15-16 October.
Sources: Vitvesti, 15 Oct · Vitvesti, 16 Oct

Infrastructure operator beCloud said fifth-generation mobile data access has become available to mobile users in Grodno. The announcement was made by beCloud deputy general director for commercial affairs Yulia Gavrylovich, Zviazda reported on 15 October, citing BELTA.
Sources: Zviazda, 15 Oct

Belarus' Operational and Analytical Center under the president included A1's hosting services unit in the list of providers authorized to host official government websites and email, under OAC order No.145 of 23 September published on the national legal portal. State organizations are required to use authorized hosting providers under a 2010 presidential decree on the national internet segment, Prime Press reported on 13 October.
Sources: Prime Press, 13 Oct

E-Government

Belarus' unified e-services portal E-Pasluga added two new services: transmission of vehicle technical inspection data from Beltekhosmotr to the public safety monitoring system, available from 14 October, and several tax administration services enabling document exchange between taxpayers and the Ministry of Taxes and Duties under simplified tax regimes, the National Center for Electronic Services told BELTA on 16 October.
Sources: SB.by, 16 Oct · BELTA, 16 Oct

E-Commerce & Online Business

Marketplace Wildberries launched an installment payment option for buyers in Belarus, allowing purchases to be split into several payments instead of paying the full amount at checkout. The option appears for eligible items during order placement, and further charges are automatically cancelled if an item is refused or returned, the company told Mlyn.by on 14 October.
Sources: Mlyn.by, 14 Oct

Cybersecurity

Russian investigators detained three suspects, including a Belarusian citizen, over a hacking attack on the Dodo Pizza chain's IT systems that exposed customer personal data, Telegram channel Baza reported, as cited by Nasha Niva and Zerkalo on 14 October. The suspects were identified by IP address; a fourth suspected member remains at large. The breach reportedly exposed data from 862 million orders and 68 million customer records accumulated over 15 years.
Sources: Nasha Niva, 14 Oct · Zerkalo, 14 Oct

Policy & Regulation

President Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No.357 establishing a unified register of freight forwarders in Belarus, to be created by 1 April 2027 and operated by the Transport Inspectorate. From 1 September 2027 inclusion in the register will be mandatory to operate in the freight forwarding services market; registration will cost 10 base units and amendments one base unit, Pozirk and Nasha Niva reported on 13 October.
Sources: Pozirk, 13 Oct · Nasha Niva, 13 Oct

Technology & R&D

The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and Chinese research organizations signed a cooperation agreement on robotics, the Academy's press service reported via BELTA and its Telegram channel on 16 October. No further details on the scope of the agreement or the Chinese partner institutions were disclosed in the announcement, which came during a week of academic exchanges with Chinese delegations in Minsk.
Sources: BELTA Telegram, 16 Oct

Figures & Surveys

Belarus' National Statistics Committee said the registered workforce of digital economy organizations exceeds 135,700 people. The country has 5,589 ICT sector organizations employing over 107,900 people, 3,425 digital trade organizations employing 15,000, and 970 content and media organizations employing 12,700, together accounting for 3.8% of the total workforce in organizations, Belstat told BELTA on 15 October.
Sources: BELTA, 15 Oct

Themes

Belarus Brief