IFC Recommendations for Simplifying Business Registration in Belarus Become Decree

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.

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.

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.

Source: IFC