Recent legal & business developments in Belarus, February 2010
1) The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (National Bank) adopted a Resolution of the Board of the National Bank No.14 dated 15 February 2010 providing for reduction of refinancing rate by 0,5% to 13 % per annum starting February 17, 2010.
Simultaneously the National Bank has also reduced rates on instruments for provision of bank liquidity by1%.
The National Bank reports that positive trends in the country’s economy and finance sphere afforded ground for the decision, which is another step towards gradual decline of overall level of lending interest rate.
Guidelines for monetary policy of Belarus for 2010, approved by the President, provide for reduction of refinancing rate down to 9 – 12% per annum and rates on credits to 12 -15% per annum at the end of the current year.
2) On February 1, Belarusian President signed decree No 60“On measures to improve the usage of the national part of the Internet” effective July 1, 2010.
To ensure "the safety of citizens and the state, as from 1 July 2010 Internet service providers will have to identify devices used by Internet users and keep a record of them and the services rendered".
Following a user’s request an ISP can restrict access of the user’s Internet access device to
The document encourages making
The decree addresses copyright protection in the Web. Fiction, scientific, musical products, photos, pictures and other objects subject to copyright and allied rights that enjoy legal protection in Belarus can be made available in the Internet provided the rights are observed, among other things approval of the copyright holder shall be obtained. News posts and/or materials posted by mass media must refer to the original source.
In line with the decree as from 1 July 2010 businesses that provide their products and services in Belarus via the World Wide Web will have to perform these services using Internet data networks, systems and resources which are located in Belarus. These systems, networks and resources can be registered with the Information Technologies and Communications Ministry or an authorized agency. The government will work out the necessary procedures and regulations by 1 May 2010.
3) President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has invited the Rothschild group to act as a consultant on assessment of some privatized enterprises in Belarus.
Arielle de Rothschild said the sides have experience of joint work on evaluating the assets of BPS Bank.
Some experts consider this fact in the light of commitment taken by the Government of Belarus to International Monetary Fund under privatization programme as the beginning of the large-scale privatization in Belarus. However the requirements of privatization programme approved by the IMF were not properly fulfilled by the Government yet.
4) President of the Republic of Belarus signed Edict № 64 dated February 13, 2010 that amends the Regulation on payment of required premium.
The document provides for payment frequency of required premium as follows: “small business” enterprise with the average number of employees up to 15 – quarterly (at this moment monthly), individual entrepreneurs – annually (at this moment quaterly).
