Investment contract with the Republic of Belarus
In order to carry out the investment activities in the Republic of Belarus you can sign an investment contract in compliance with Ordinance No 10 of the President of Belarus of 6 August 2009 “On Creating Additional Conditions for Investment Activities in the Republic of Belarus”.
The investment contract offers additional legal safeguards and preferential terms for delivering an investment project.
Ordinance No 10 of the President of Belarus of 6 August 2009 “On Creating Additional Conditions for Investment Activities in the Republic of Belarus” establishes that:
- the investors are allowed to carry out construction works stipulated by the investment project and simultaneously develop design estimates and have them evaluated and adopted at each stage of the construction;
- Land plots are leased to investors without auctions, all relevant documents can be done simultaneously with construction works. Investors are not charged for getting the right to sign a land lease contract, and the rent remains unchanged during the entire period while an investment contract is implemented;
- Investors are exempt from import customs duties and VAT (apart from the VAT on the goods imported from Russia) on the equipment and component parts necessary for the implementation of the investment project;
- investors are exempt from compensating losses incurred to agriculture and forestry by the withdrawal of land and losses related to the redeployment and cutting of planting in living communities;
- investors are exempt from import customs duties and VAT on the equipment and component parts necessary for the implementation of the investment project. The list of goods should be agreed upon with the government body responsible for singing the contract or the government body authorized by the Government to approve the contract;
- investors do not have to pay the state duty for issuing work permits for foreign citizens and stateless persons, while the latter are exempt from the state duty on temporary residence permits.
The Regional Council of deputies and Minsk Council of Deputies are authorized to exempt investors who have signed investment contracts with the Republic of Belarus from targeted fees to the local budget.
The abovementioned preferences can be granted to an investor by a government body (executive committee) and the Council of Ministers, as may be agreed by the President of the Republic of Belarus.
The ordinance introduces a three-level system for concluding investment contracts with the Republic of Belarus, depending on the significance of the project and the related preferences.
An investment contract can be concluded through a resolution issued by:
- a government body (an executive committee) in cases when the required preferences are already stipulated in Ordinance No. 10 or can be authorized by a government body (an executive committee).
- the Council of Ministers if the contract implies privileges and preferences stipulated in Ordinance No. 10 and national legal acts or other legal documents issued by the head of state;
- the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus with the approval of the President of the Republic of Belarus if the contract implies preferences which are stipulated neither in national legal acts nor in other legal documents issued by the head of state. In this case, an investor needs a favorable conclusion of the state complex examination of a business plan of the investment project.