FEZ Brest: investment hub with tax benefits and logistics edge.
Free Economic Zone "Brest"
The Free Economic Zone "Brest" (FEZ "Brest") is the first in the Republic of Belarus and has been operating officially since December 1996. The territory of the FEZ "Brest" consists of two sites located to the northwest and east of the city of Brest. It covers an area of over 70 sq. km. An international airport is also located within the FEZ. The FEZ borders the Republic of Poland along the Bug River for a length of 10 km. To the south it adjoins Brest and is separated from the city by the Brest–Białystok–Kaliningrad railway line. A cargo highway of international importance with the border crossing point "Kozlovichi" runs through the territory of the FEZ "Brest". Brest’s location at the crossroads of routes linking west to east and north to south is also advantageous for the FEZ, with the E-30 transit corridor Berlin–Warsaw–Brest–Minsk–Moscow being of particular importance. Direct routes to Vilnius and Kyiv, as well as a branched network of good-quality roads in the region, allow rapid transportation of people and goods to and from industrial zones. The FEZ accepts investments aimed primarily at establishing enterprises in the pharmaceutical, automotive, food, electronics, furniture, machinery and woodworking industries. Priority will be given to investments for organizing export-oriented and import-substituting production. A wide network of customs warehouses and expansion of the existing transport infrastructure are also envisaged. At the initial stage, it is possible to use existing storage, transport and power facilities and communications, as well as the qualified workforce of the city of Brest and adjacent districts. Taxes: exemptions and privileges. When goods (raw materials, materials, equipment) are imported into the territory of the FEZ "Brest", customs duties are not collected and economic policy measures are not applied. Products (works, services) produced by zone residents and exported outside its territory are exempt from customs duties. Foreign employees are guaranteed the unhindered transfer abroad of incomes earned on the territory of the FEZ "Brest". No quotas are set and no licensing is imposed on goods (works, services) produced in the territory of the FEZ "Brest" when they are exported outside the republic. On the territory of the FEZ "Brest" with respect to investments, coercive measures such as nationalization, requisition, confiscation or any other measures of a similar effect are not allowed. Interference in the economic or other activities of enterprises with foreign investments by state authorities and their officials is not permitted. Government guarantees are set forth in the "Investment Code of the Republic of Belarus" and the law "On Free Economic Zones on the Territory of the Republic of Belarus". A preferential taxation regime operates on the territory of the FEZ. The tax on profit and income is 15% (30% in the Republic of Belarus), the value-added tax is 10% (18% in the Republic of Belarus). Residents of the FEZ "Brest" whose profits are generated from the sale of services and products of their own production are exempt from profit tax for the first 5 years from the moment profits are declared. Residents of the FEZ "Brest" that export at least 70% of their products pay profit tax at 50% of the tax rate for the following 5 years. Administration of the FEZ "Brest". |