Working group on stimulating business activity presents innovations on simplifying business operation

12 апреля 2017

By Veronika Buta: A working group on stimulating business activity that has been working in Belarus for almost three months has presented the most relevant innovations to simplify doing business. The President considered the proposed documents and decided to bring them up for a broad public discussion. Today, the documents have been posted in the public domain on the National Legal Internet Portal.

Drastic decisions to be made in the near future will affect both large and small businesses, including individual entrepreneurs. The task is to simplify starting a business to the maximum.

The key document is the President’s draft decree. Among the proposals is introducing a moratorium on new taxes and higher tax rates, reducing the number of inspections and removing administrative barriers.

It has been suggested to abolish licensing for certain activities, except for those related to healthcare and economic security. In case of a violation, there should be a chance to fix it.

By 2020, most administrative procedures are planned to be switched to electronic format. For example, issuing veterinary permits to import products fr om abroad will take only 15 minutes instead of 15 days. The electronic system to be launched this year will also allow avoiding duplicated functions in several state agencies at once.

A draft decree on trade and public catering in small towns is designed to liberate the business initiative by the example of agroecotourism. Over the past 10 years, the number of agroeco-farmsteads has increased from 30 to 2,500.

The documents aimed at reducing the burden imposed on businesses are currently available on the National Legal Internet Portal, wh ere anyone interested can study them in detail and submit their proposals.