Business news

3 Oct 2019

Serious steps made in Belarus to liberalize business regulations

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MINSK, 3 October (BelTA) – The government takes serious steps to liberalize business regulations. Chairman of the Entrepreneurship Promotion Council, First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Aleksandr Turchin made the relevant statement before a session of the council began on 3 October, BelTA has learned.

The session was focused on the presumption of good faith as a key principle of interaction between the state and the private sector. “Today we are going to try to give an answer to how it should be determined. The law enforcement practice is the key thing I would like to talk about,” Aleksandr Turchin noted. It is difficult or even impossible for the legislation to address every situation and every case, this is why the law enforcement practice is important, he added.

Some parties believe that the Supreme Court should initiate the law enforcement practice. “I don’t deny it,” Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court of Belarus Valentin Sukalo said: “The Supreme Court pronounces rulings on behalf of the state. These rulings are binding while decisions made by the Plenum of the Supreme Court provide a regulatory effect.”

“In my opinion, the state takes serious steps to liberalize the operation of the private sector,” Aleksandr Turchin said. “Belarus president decree No.488 has been scrapped. A number of provisions of the Criminal Code were liberalized as of 1 July 2019.”

When asked what the main effect from the measures being taken is, Aleksandr Turchin said: “I look at it from the point of view of economic growth. Today the successful development of the private sector means growth of our economy. Hence, higher payments to the state budget and higher living standards of our nation.”

The reporters also wondered what the first deputy prime minister thinks about the effectiveness of scrapping Belarus president decree No.488 on measures to prevent the illegal minimization of tax liabilities and whether Article 33 of the Tax Code continues in the same manner. “The effectiveness of scrapping the decree can be assessed by mass media publications among other things,” Aleksandr Turchin believes. “In my opinion, so far this year there has been no obvious imbalance we saw in the past. It may be the answer to your question.”

Speaking about Article 33 of the Tax Code, Aleksandr Turchin said he does not believe it is a replica of the scrapped decree. The official noted: “How the practice of enforcing it will be established is extremely important.” He pointed out that such norms are part of the legislation in many countries. Aleksandr Turchin said: “We have good legislation. We just need to correctly observe it.”