Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 28 March (BelTA) - Business should become a driving force behind the economic processes in the country, Belarus’ Economy Minister Vladimir Zinovsky said at the international conference Fiscal Policy for Sustainable Economic Development on 28 March, BelTA informs.

“For this, the state and business need to enhance the credit of trust,” the minister stressed.

In his words, a stable and simple legislation is one of the regulating elements. In turn, fiscal policy should be aimed at economic development and create conditions for the entrepreneurial initiative and the disclosure of the potential of enterprises of all forms of ownership.

According to Vladimir Zinovsky, an unprecedented package of documents aimed at developing entrepreneurship was adopted in Belarus in 2017. They are focused on one of the key approaches to minimize state interference in the economic activity of entities while increasing personal responsibility of their managers.

The minister noted that the state bodies and government of Belarus are constantly working on improving the tax policy. “This is an ongoing process. For the last ten years we have been able to reduce the tax burden and the level of centralization by 10%, which is a significant result for the economy. Favorable conditions have been created to attract investments with the help of various preferential regimes,” he said.

Vladimir Zinovsky stressed that additional measures are required given the changing external conditions and the operation in a single economic space. “Of course, we need to understand that we cannot abolish all taxes and give business complete freedom. The state must fulfill its social obligations,” he added.

Vladimir Zinovsky noted that due to the impossibility to significantly reduce public spending, the tax system has been recently oversaturated with forced withdrawals, which could sometimes have a negative impact on doing business conditions. This required making the Tax Code simple and understandable, capable of supporting economic activity, rather than forcing to look for loopholes to avoid financial and tax liabilities. The president instructed to prepare the relevant updated draft document before 1 September 2018.

Apart from that, there will a serious revision of regulations on accounting.

Working groups have been established to work through these issues. The working groups will involve business representatives and experts. “The government is completely open to proposals,” Vladimir Zinovsky said.