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Such a situation is
typical of countries with transitional economy where companies aspire to obtain
profit in the short-term.
2002 witnessed a steady
rise in the number of individual entrepreneurs. It was greatly encouraged by
the introduction of a more liberal taxation system and by the simplification of
the state registration procedure for individual entrepreneurs in comparison
with small businesses.
According to the
Ministry of Taxation and Excise Duties, the number of individual entrepreneurs
on the list of taxpayers rose by almost 10 thousand and constituted about 190
thousand as of the early 2003.
In the first half of
2003 positive dynamics of growth in the number of individual entrepreneurs
listed as taxpayers persisted. Their number rose by 3.7 thousand over
January-July 2003 and constituted 193.2 thousand persons as of July 1, 2003.
Figures represented in the table above show that the
number of privately owned small businesses increased in all regions and in
Minsk (except Mogilev region).
Over a half (57 %) of privately owned small businesses
and a quarter of individual entrepreneurs are concentrated in Minsk. In the
regions 50 % of small business are concentrated in regional centers.
In order to simplify the procedure for state
registration, Decree 29 of the President of the Republic of Belarus was adopted
in December 2002. It included the following amendments:
·
registration of a
private unitary enterprise is allowed at the place of residence (an apartment,
a house). The recognition of a place of residence as a location of a private
unitary enterprise is an important step on the way towards simplification of
the small business state registration procedure;
·
requirement to
describe all fields of activity in the documents is abolished. A universal
state registration procedure for everyone regardless of their field of activity
is introduced. A simplified liquidation procedure is provided for companies
commercially inactive over a period of 6 months. Whenever a legal entity is not
in possession of funds, sufficient for liquidation, the expenses are covered
out of the corresponding budget.
Decree 17 of the President of the Republic of Belarus “On Licensing of Some Kinds of Activity” was adopted in July 2003.
The Decree regulates basic issues related to licensing
in general and establishes a common procedure for issuance, suspension, renewal,
cancellation and extension of licenses. The list of activities which require
licensing has been reduced from 165 to 49 items. Regardless of the field of
activity, the license issuance fee is set to 90 euro; the
application-processing fee is set to 10 euro.
Greater sustainability of small business entities
development was encouraged by direct and indirect governmental assistance that
was provided in the framework of implementation of republican and regional
small business programs support. Their implementation costs were covered by
state and local funds.
Financial support of small business entities was
provided via partial coverage of their bank loans interest, lease payments, as
well as via partial compensation of costs, associated with their participation
in various exhibitions and fairs.
Small business entities were also given information
support, consulting services via the existing small business support network
that comprised 43 centers as of July 1, 2003.
The activity of the centers was concentrated on the
following aspects: information support, marketing research, consulting on
practical aspects of conducting a business, development and evaluation of
business-projects, personnel training and partner search.
In 2002 43.588 people used the services of these
centers (17.017 in the first half of 2003), 592 workshops and training courses
were held at the centers (241 in the first half of 2003). 11.065 people
attended these workshops (8.888 in the first half of 2003).
System of support of small businesses has the
following structure:
The
Department on Entrepreneurships of the Ministry of Economics
The main tasks of this Department are support and
development of entrepreneurship in the Republic of Belarus, and coordination of
activities of the national bodies of state government, local executive and
administrative authorities in this sphere. The department drafts bills of the
Republic of Belarus, decisions of the President and of the Government,
regulatory and legal acts on issues of support of entrepreneurship, elaborates
annual national programmes of state support of small businesses, assists in
formation of the entrepreneurship support infrastructure, and renders
organisational and information and methodological support on issues of
financial and credit support.
The
Fund for Support of Small and Medium Businesses of the Ministry of Economics
The main tasks of this Fund are: providing financial
support of state policy of support of small entrepreneurship through participation
in funding of respective state, sectoral and regional programmes, giving
financial, organisational and information and methodological aid on
preferential or free basis to subjects of the small business support
infrastructure, control over targeted use of resources allocated to the
infrastructure subjects, or received by such subjects with assistance of the
Fund.
The
Belarusian Fund of Financial Support of Entrepreneurs and Regional Funds of
Financial Support
These funds provide credits and micro credits on
preferential conditions to subjects of small businesses and to individual
entrepreneurs.
Subjects
of the entrepreneurship support infrastructure
At present, the system of subjects of the small
entrepreneurship support infrastructure includes the Fund called "The
National Entrepreneurship Development Agency", entrepreneurship support
centres and small business incubators. The Republic has 43 centres and 6
incubators, which provide comprehensive and targeted support to small businesses
along different lines: information, counselling, training, prognosis and
analysis, science and technology. Subjects of this infrastructure conduct
marketing research, development and expertise of business plans, organise
training seminars, courses and other actions.
Programmes
of state support for small businesses
Annual national and regional programmes are elaborated
and implemented for providing state support and develop small businesses. They
include improvement of the regulatory and legal frame, financial and credit as
well as investment support of small businesses. The national Programme of state
support of small businesses include actions aimed at creating preferential
conditions for access of small business subjects to financial resources.
Regional programmes of state support of small businesses are implemented along
the following lines: improvement of the regulatory and legal frame; resource
and financial support of development; formation of the infrastructure of
support and development; information, training and methodological support of
businesses.