News
Decree to halve number of licensable businesses in Belarus
A decree may be adopted in spring 2010 to regulate the licensing of certain kinds of entrepreneurial activities in Belarus, Alexander Topilin, Deputy Director of the Entrepreneurship Department of the Belarusian Economy Ministry, told a roundtable session on 18 February.
According to the source, the draft decree is now in the Belarus President Administration. “If there are no major remarks, I think it will be forwarded to the head of state soon,” he said.
Explaining why it was taking so long, Alexander Topilin said that there had been a lot of discussions about whether these or those businesses require licensing. On the one hand, business activity in Belarus should be considerably liberalized, on the other hand, the government should retain certain control in areas where economic security, safety of life and health of citizens should be preserved. A government agency would often resist removing a licensing requirement in order to keep leverage, said Alexander Topilin.
Time will be provided to let small businesses to get adapted to the new rules. The representative of the Economy Ministry did not specify when the document may come into force. The draft decree set 1 July 2010 as the date when it comes into force.
According to Alexander Topilin, the draft decree is a compact codex regulating licensing matters. A lot of documents are attached to the draft decree as it is supposed to cover all the matters in this area. “We have to specify the relations licensees may have in detail to prevent double interpretation of the decree, to prevent government agencies from making their own regulations,” said the Economy Ministry representative.
BelTA reported earlier that the draft decree on the licensing of certain kinds of entrepreneurial activities will reduce the number of licensable entrepreneurial activities by over 56%. The draft document provides for canceling the licensing requirement for retail trade and several other kinds of entrepreneurial activities.