Belarusian deputies adopted the bill on support of small and medium-sized businesses in the second reading

May 26, Minsk / Ekaterina Nechaeva - BELTA /. Deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus at a meeting of the fourth session today adopted in the second reading the draft law "On Support of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises", according to a BELTA correspondent. Touching upon the key provisions of the bill, Viktor Tolkachev, Deputy Chairman of the Standing Commission on Industry, Fuel and Energy Complex, Transport, Communications and Entrepreneurship, first of all highlighted the division of economic entities into small and medium-sized ones. He stressed that the sectoral principle of classification as small businesses will be excluded. Individual entrepreneurs, micro-organizations (with an average number of employees for the calendar year up to 15 people inclusive) and small organizations (from 16 to 100 employees) will be classified as such. Commercial organizations with 101 to 250 employees will be classified as medium-sized businesses. No special registration as such or other confirmation of their status by state bodies will be required. Moreover, a ban on interference by state bodies and other state organizations in their activities, along with the activities of small and medium-sized enterprise support infrastructure entities, is enshrined in law. The draft defines the main goals and principles of state policy in the field of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, and regulates the types and general conditions of such support. Small businesses can count on receiving financial resources from the state (on a reimbursable or gratuitous basis) and property support. The allocation of various types of subsidies is also possible – to reimburse part of the interest on bank loans, expenses for lease payments under financial lease agreements, and expenses related to participation in exhibitions and fairs or their organization. Special tax regimes may be provided for small businesses, and requirements for accounting and statistical reporting may be simplified. In general, for small and medium-sized enterprises, it is possible to introduce a simplified procedure for transferring to their ownership, lease or gratuitous use of buildings, structures, production facilities, and equipment that are in state ownership but are not used or are used inefficiently. They can be obtained, including free of charge. Moreover, entrepreneurs who have been renting premises for at least 5 years and are engaged in the production of goods may acquire the right to purchase the leased premises. An important and anticipated provision of the bill is the guarantee of participation of small and medium-sized businesses in public procurement of goods, works and services. In this case, they can act as suppliers, performers, and contractors. A reservation of at least 10% of the total volume of state procurement is possible for them, and a separate competition is held for this part. For individual entrepreneurs and micro-organizations, the draft law provides for the possibility of acquiring state property with payment in installments for up to 3 years. When acquiring state property at auctions, two or more small businesses can act as buyers. The determination of the legal status of the Council for the Development of Entrepreneurship in Belarus in the draft is important. The possibility of creating similar councils under local executive and administrative bodies of power is provided for. A separate article in the chapter on state policy is devoted to associations of small and medium-sized enterprises (associations and unions), their goals, powers, and rights. Deputies also ratified the intergovernmental Belarusian-Ukrainian agreement on outbound fair trade in national products in the border regions of the two countries and adopted in the second reading the bill "On the Committee of State Control of the Republic of Belarus and its territorial bodies." -0-