Recent legal & business developments in Belarus, January 2009
1. On the 16th of January 2009 the President of the Republic of Belarus signed the Decree No. 1 “On State Registration and Liquidation (Termination of Activity ) of Businesses ”, by virtue of which starting from the 1st of February new procedures with regard to registering and liquidating legal entities. First and the most important there is an application procedure of state registration. Requirements with regard to statutory documents were simplified. On the other hand the degree of liability of the founders for mistakes made within the application procedure has been increased considerably.
2. New excise taxes for 2009 came into force starting from the 1st of January. The excise tax with regard to manufacturing machinery and a number of other goods shall be 0% within the next 9 months.
3. By virtue of the Letter of 15th January the National Bank allowed legal entities and private entrepreneurs to transfer advance payments out of the gain received by them in foreign currency.
4. The Executive Council of the International Monetary Fund on 12th January 2009 approved the “Stand-by” program for Belarus in the amount of approx 2,46 bio USD for the period of 15 months. 800 mio USD out of the money shall be transferred to Belarus within the nearest future.
5. On the 23rd of January the President issued an Edict No. 49 in accordance with which the managers of companies are entitled to give bonuses to employees calculated upon their actual output for the purposes of encouraging employees to sell goods (works, services).
6. In accordance with the Regulation of the State Committee for Standardization dated 16th December 2008 No. 60 the list of goods (services) subject to certification in the Republic of Belarus was diminished for approx. 40%. The Ministry of Healthcare plans to cut on the list of products that are subject for state hygienic registration.
7. On the 19th of January 30, 2009 the new Regulation of the Council of Ministers No. 1987 with regard to tenders organized by state owned companies came into force. The changes cover the procedure of allocation of invitations for tender, yearly plans of procurement.
