Colliers International has announced that it has opened a branch office in Minsk, Belarus. The office is located on Timiryazeva St. 65 B, close to the city center. The office has started operating with four people.
In 2006 Colliers made a strategic decision to become an active player in the development of Belarus' commercial real estate market. Preliminary studies have revealed huge potential for development in this field.
According to Mihails Morozovs, Managing Partner for the Baltics and Belarus, notwithstanding the specific features of the business environment such as state ownership of land, the predetermined use of lots, and the numerous state rules and regulations, the country's business community well understands that the commercial real estate market has no other way to advance than through developments of a professional standard in each sector. For this reason Colliers has decided to open a regional office in Minsk in the first quarter of 2007 to bring the company's experience and expertise to this challenging market.
The Belarus office starts its operations with four local professionals, and strong support from the neighbourhood offices in the CIS & Baltic regions. The Managing Director for Colliers International in Belarus is Mr. Mikhail Gradovich. He notes, "The country has been characterized by rapid economic growth in recent years. This has been affected by an increase in work productivity, the efficiency of the energy sector, and the use of resources. Belarus' Real Estate market offers a lot of potential. Commercial risks surely exist; however, there are many possibilities to use the market potential and make profits on Real Estate. The company in Minsk will focus on all commercial real estate sectors as the demand for all types of quality premises is high and this sector, in comparison with residential, is less regulated by the government and is less risky."
Although the official opening date is the 4th of May, the actual work of the Belarusian team already started several months ago with the gathering and analysis of market information. A number of consultancy reports for large scale projects had already been prepared before the official opening.
Source: Colliers
