October 23, Minsk /Anna Kot - BELTA/. Belarus ranked 58th out of 185 countries in the World Bank and International Finance Corporation report "Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations for Small and Medium Enterprises". This was announced to journalists during a telephone conference by the report's co-author, Valentina Saltan. The global ranking was published today on the "Doing Business" project website, reports a BELTA correspondent.
In last year's "Doing Business 2012" report, Belarus moved from 69th to 60th position after a traditional review of the ranking. Considering this, the republic has improved its ranking in the report by two positions compared to last year. The revision of last year's ranking is due to updated data and the introduction of two new countries into the report - Malta and Barbados.
In the current WB and IFC report, Singapore leads in terms of ease of doing business. This country has topped the global ranking for the seventh consecutive year. The top 10 countries with the most favourable conditions for regulating entrepreneurial activity also include SAR Hong Kong, China; New Zealand; USA; Denmark; Norway; United Kingdom; Republic of Korea; Georgia; and Australia. Georgia became a newcomer to the top ten. The list of countries that have shown significant improvements in facilitating business over the past year is led by Poland, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Burundi, Costa Rica, Mongolia, Greece, Serbia, and Kazakhstan.
Belarus, on the other hand, has made it into the top 10 leading reforming countries that have achieved significant improvements in doing business since 2005, taking third position. Georgia took first place here, followed by Rwanda. Behind Belarus are Burkina Faso, Macedonia, Egypt, Mali, Colombia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
If we compare Belarus's ranking with the positions of its partners in the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, the republic lags behind Kazakhstan, which ranked 49th, but looks more attractive than Russia, which is in 112th place. Belarus is also far ahead of another "neighbouring" country - Ukraine, which is in 137th place. It slightly lags behind Poland, which ranked 55th.
The "Doing Business 2013" report presents a ranking of countries based on key aspects of regulatory environment for domestic businesses. The ranking takes into account reforms implemented in countries between June 2011 and May 2012. Ten indicators were used to create country rankings for 185 economies. It should be noted that following adjustments to the previous study, Belarus's ranking in certain categories has changed.
According to the "Doing Business 2013" report, Belarus's ranking has improved in five out of ten categories, with significant progress in two of them. The most substantial progress compared to the previous report was achieved in the "Paying Taxes" category, with the ranking improving by 29 positions, from 158th to 129th. Significant improvement was also observed in the "Dealing with Construction Permits" category, where the country ranked 30th, up from 42nd in the previous report. Belarus's ranking also improved in the "Getting Electricity" category – 171st place (previously 173rd), "Enforcing Contracts" – 13th place (previously 14th), and "Trading Across Borders" – 151st position, up from 154th. For "Starting a Business" and "Registering Property", Belarus maintained its previous positions – 9th and 3rd, respectively. However, Belarus's ranking declined in several categories. These include "Getting Credit" – 104th place (previously 97th), "Protecting Investors" – 82nd position (previously 79th), and "Resolving Insolvency" – 56th place (previously 42nd in the last report).
Furthermore, experts from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation highlighted two reforms that improved the business environment in Belarus, and one reform that created additional obstacles in this area.
Positive reforms, according to experts from international organizations, have occurred in the areas of taxation and insolvency resolution. Thus, Belarus has made the tax payment procedure simpler and less costly for companies by reducing the profit tax rate, as well as by encouraging electronic payments and reporting. Furthermore, the republic has improved the bankruptcy procedure. A provision has been adopted on the exclusion from bankruptcy proceedings of property previously owned by the state and privatized by a company. A provision has been introduced stipulating that real estate not sold at auction must be offered for purchase to creditors. Additionally, the sale of real estate at auction in bankruptcy proceedings has been permitted without confirmation of the state registration of the said property in the absence of funds to pay for state registration.
At the same time, Belarus has complicated the business registration procedure by increasing the cost of business registration, as well as the cost of obtaining a company seal, experts state.
The report "Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises" is the tenth in the "Doing Business" series of reports. Over the past decade, these reports have recorded nearly 2,000 regulatory reforms implemented in 180 countries. As revealed during the preparation of the new report, in the last year alone, 201 regulatory reforms were implemented in 108 countries, making it easier for local entrepreneurs to do business. Eastern Europe and Central Asia account for the largest number of regulatory reforms, with 88% of countries in this region having reformed at least one of the areas covered by the "Doing Business" study.
BELTA