29 December 2007
Lukashenka allows sole entrepreneurs to re-register as legal entities on easy terms until March 1, 2008

Alyaksandr Lukashenka, by his presidential Edict No. 685, has allowed sole entrepreneurs to register their businesses as a legal entity on easy terms until March 1, 2008.

November 10, 2007 was the deadline for sole entrepreneurs to re-register as a legal entity, namely a private unitary enterprise, on easy terms. The deadline was issued amid the government's intention to ban business owners holding the status of sole entrepreneur from hiring other than three family members starting January 1, 2008 and impose more restrictions on them later.

Of some 200,000 sole entrepreneurs, only slightly more than 10,000 registered their business as a legal entity before November 10.

The new edict is aimed to encourage more sole entrepreneurs to re-register as a legal entity on easy terms.

The edict provides for a twofold decrease in the rate of penalties imposed on private unitary enterprises to make the status more attractive for small businesses, according to the presidential press office.

The press office stressed that “the position of the government regarding the use of hired workers’ labor by sole entrepreneurs remains unchanged.”

“The issue of the edict is the continuation of the government’s work to create civilized business conditions for sole entrepreneurs and secure additional opportunities for their transformation into legal entities,” the press office said.

The government claims that it has created easier registration, accounting and taxation procedures for private unitary enterprises. //BelaPAN