IFC Recommendations for Simplifying Business Registration in Belarus Become Decree
In Minsk:
Nadia Sinelnik
Tel: + (37517) 228.18.38
E-mail: nsinelnik@ifc.org
In Moscow:
Ilya Sverdlov
Tel: +7 (495) 411-7555 x 2075
E-mail:
isverdlov@ifc.org
Minsk, January 8, 2008—The Belarusian
government has introduced a decree to simplify the registration and liquidation
of companies. The document was developed by the Ministry of Justice, in
cooperation with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. It introduces the
declarative principle of registration and cuts twofold the minimum charter
capital requirements for new legal entities.
Under the new decree, registration authorities
are not required to verify documents that are submitted for state registration
by a start-up, but the applicant is liable for any inappropriate information.
Also, except for those seeking licensing, applicants are not required to
disclose their business lines in founding documents. The decree incorporates
most of IFC’s proposals on simplifying registration.
“The proposed changes are truly revolutionary
for Belarus. By reducing the time for registering a business to five
days, Belarus may well be on the road to becoming among the fastest countries
in the region for starting a business,” said Valery Fadeev, IFC Senior
Legal Adviser.
IFC has collaborated with the Ministry of
Justice on simplifying business registration since 2004. In 2006, a joint
conference entitled, “Business Registration: International Experience
and its Application in Belarus” was held. This resulted in a decree that
introduced the one-stop-shop principle and decreased the time for government
agencies to register a business, from a maximum of 41 days to 30 days.
IFC Belarus Business Enabling Environment Project organized study tours
to Sweden for Belarusian state officials have been utilized to familiarize
them with new business concepts for business registration and small and
medium enterprise administrative reforms.
The Belarus Business Enabling Environment
Project is jointly funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency (Sida) and IFC.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters
sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private
sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international
financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services
to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that poor people have the
opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed
$8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through loan participations
and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries.
IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information,
visit www.ifc.org.
About Sida
The Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency is a government agency that reports to Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign
Affairs. It is responsible for most of the country’s contributions to
international development work, with the goal of improving the standard
of living for poor people and eradicating poverty.
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