News & Events in Belarus

Belarus stood at the 37^th position in the previous World Bank’s Doing Business report. “In accordance with the last year the change is insignificant. This one-point decline shows that other countries managed to conduct a more active reforming activity. This year we note only one reform in Belarus. It is in getting credits,” the co-author of the report said.

Valentina Saltan stressed that the momentum of reforms in Belarus has reduced. “At the same time, Belarus was ranked 106^th out of some 150 economies in 2006. Now, the country is going 38^th. This is a very good result,” the expert said.

Several parameters are evaluated to make up the total score of a country. Getting Construction Permits in Belarus scored 22 (28 in the Doing Business 2017 report), Registering Property — 5 (5), Paying Taxes — 96 (99), Resolving Insolvency — 68 (69). Dozens of indicators were analyzed in total. “This year the data on almost every indicator remained intact. In Registering Property Belarus keeps 5^th position out of 190 countries. In Belarus one needs to undergo only two procedures to register property, and it is possible to do within two days and at a relatively low cost,” said the expert. Valentina Saltan also took note of Belarus’ position in Getting Construction Permits. “The country is ranked 22^nd here. Sixteen procedures need to be performed to get a construction permit in Belarus. It can be done within 115 days. The corresponding average indicator across Europe and Central Asia makes up 168 days,” she said.

In the World Bank’s Doing Business 2018 report New Zealand boasts the top score. The country is followed by Singapore. The top ten countries with the most favorable conditions for doing business also include Denmark, South Korea, Hong Kong (China), the United States, the UK, Norway, Georgia and Sweden.

As for the former Soviet Union countries, Georgia is ranked the highest, 9^th. The country has held 47 reforms in the past 15 years. It is followed by Estonia (12^th), Lithuania (16^th), Latvia (19^th), and Poland (27^th), Russia (35^th), Kazakhstan (36^th), Uzbekistan (74^th), Ukraine (76^th), Kyrgyzstan (77^th), and Tajikistan (123^rd).

According to Valentina Saltan, the World Bank’s Doing Business report has a simple and transparent methodology. “Thanks to it, countries and governments find it easy to see how they can change their business environment in order to promote economic growth, investment and the creation of new jobs,” the expert said.

All in all, the countries of Europe and Central Asia held 44 business-favorable reforms last year. The total number of reforms in the region has made up 673 over the past 15 years.