According to the Finance Ministry, in H1 2015, profits of the three most profitable companies in Belarus have exceeded profits of the remaining 1500 profitable companies. 22% of Belarusian enterprises are unprofitable. A half of profitable companies have maximum 5% profit margin. The number of unprofitable enterprises is expected to increase due to the negative processes in the economy. Bankruptcies among state-owned enterprises will increase. Backbone enterprises will receive financial assistance from the budget if, otherwise, they should shut down their activity and smaller enterprises will be reorganised or merged with other enterprises of a similar profile. Given the number of low-profit enterprises, further lay-offs in order to cut costs are only inevitable and the competition on the labour market will increase, even amid shrinking wages.
