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Number of licenses, permits for business doing reduced

16 March 2016 16:56 (UTC+04:00)
Number of licenses, permits for business doing reduced

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan has reduced the total number of licenses and permits for business doing.

The country’s parliament adopted an appropriate draft law “On licenses and permits” during the plenary session in the third reading held on March 15.

Addressing the event, Ziyad Samadzade, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic policy, entrepreneurship and industry, said that the previous version of the law provided for the issuing licenses in 32 areas.

“Given the fact that the regulation of banking and insurance sectors, as well as stock market has passed to the Financial Markets Supervision Board, we have reduced the number of licensed spheres up to 23 based on discussions held in the Presidential Administration,” Samadzade added.

The original version of the document provided for issuing more than 300 permits, but now its number has dropped to 80, he stressed.

The difference between a permit and a license is that the license is issued permanently and for a specific type of activity, while a permit for a specified period, after which it should be renewed.

Samadzade believes that the law “On licenses and permits” will have a positive impact on the development of entrepreneurship in the country.

The new law provides for the simplification of procedures and the improvement of the rules for obtaining licenses and permits, including so-called ‘single window’ system, which means providing licensing procedures at one place. Thus, the issued license will automatically enter in a single register, which will be available for anyone to check for confirmation.

Moreover, the draft law also provides for shortening the licensing period from 15 to 10 days, and granting permission up to 7 days.

Public bodies will provide entrepreneurs with methodological assistance within five days to ensure that entrepreneurs do not spend extra funds and that they are ready to get a license, according to the new law.

Azerbaijan has recently taken a number of steps towards protecting and promoting local entrepreneurship after setting a goal to form economic growth through the non-oil sector in the period up to 2020-2030.

The government began introducing privileges for entrepreneurs under a presidential decree simplifying licensing procedures for entrepreneurship and encouraging business transparency in October 2015.

Under the appropriate amendments, some 22 types of licenses have been canceled following the decree last year.

Now, the government does not demand entrepreneurs to obtain license for such types of business as sale, import and production of alcohol and alcoholic beverages, as well as tobacco goods, international, intercity and long-distance passenger and cargo transportation by motor transport, production, processing and trafficking precious metals and stones.

Moreover, those engaged in sale of petroleum and gas products, travel and auditing activities, hotels and hotel-type facilities, cartographic activities, drawing up strict reporting forms, delivery, processing and sale of non-ferrous metals, industrial and manufacturing waste containing precious metals and stones allowed to work without necessary licensing.

Customs broker and the carrier activities, merchant shipping (passenger and cargo transportation by sea), as well as passenger and cargo air transportation and activities of commodity exchanges do not require obtaining a license in Azerbaijan, as well.

Other businesses allowed to work without necessary licensing include intermediary activity of individuals in employment of Azerbaijan’s citizens in foreign countries, installation, repair and adjustment of power facilities, activities of non-state pension funds, establishment of customs warehouses and temporary storage warehouses, construction, reconstruction and repair of buildings, structures, premises of fire-fighting system, as well as non-governmental phytosanitary service, including sales and storage of plant protection products and agrochemicals.

With simplification of issuing licenses and permits for business, entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan is expected to get another positive impulse.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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