The business community welcomes the initiative to reduce the number of audits and inspections that Belarusian companies are subjected to, BelTA learned from Vladimir Karyagin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Republican Confederation of Entrepreneurship, as he commented on the Belarus president's address to the parliament on 7 October.
Vladimir Karyagin said: “The president said what the business community had told him about. It is very important that the statements will get policy status. We can only welcome the fact.”
Vladimir Karyagin underlined that Belarusian businessmen value time above all these days. Inspections and audits keep top executives away from work, negatively affecting the wellbeing of Belarusian enterprises, their executives, their motivations as well as the country's image in the international scene as a whole.
Vladimir Karyagin mentioned the experience of other countries in this sphere. “I have a lot of friends, who work in Germany, Austria, Poland. They haven't had a single inspection for 20 years. We definitely don't want inspections and audits to interfere with the operation of a business and we don't want them to worsen the business climate.” He described the number and objectiveness of audits and inspections as an important component of the business climate.
Vladimir Karyagin is convinced that heads of Belarusian companies need better incentives. “It is necessary to single out and encourage the best ones. It is necessary to trust them by default. For instance, the State Customs Committee gives a special title to bona fide foreign trade participants. Such mechanisms definitely have a place in our life,” said the Chairman of the Presidium of the Republican Confederation of Entrepreneurship of Belarus.
BelTA reported earlier that on 7 October Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko addressed outgoing and newly elected members of the country's parliament. In his speech the President said he wanted to fix the problem of the excessive number of audits and inspections that Belarusian companies are subjected to. Alexander Lukashenko noted that it is quite simple to register a business in Belarus but problems begin when representatives of the Healthcare Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry, and other auditing agencies come to visit the newly established enterprise.
“The problem has to go away as from 1 January just like we agreed. I will sign a decree if you want. We would like businesses to register and start working while observing certain requirements — sanitary and fire safety ones,” said the head of state.