ABSTRACT
In focusing on Belarus, this chapter is concerned with a country where the environment for private business development is hostile, essentially because of a lack of political will and commitment on the part of government to the process of market reform. Following a review of where Belarus has reached in the reform process and an overview of the development of the private sector hitherto, the discussion focuses on regional differences in entrepreneurship in the country, where a number of distinctive features related to transition are identified, mainly with respect to the role of government. This is followed by an identification of some of the ‘strategies’ that entrepreneurs use in Belarus to deal with the specific and difficult operating environment which they face.
