In the light of the Address of the President of Kazakhstan NCE had to do a lot of work in the current year
Not only to protect, but also to improve laws

 As stated by the Chairman of the Presidium of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken" Timur Kulibayev at the recent annual conference of entrepreneurs in Astana, the highest priority issue for 2017 for NCE is to protect the rights and legitimate interests of business. The head of "Atameken" reported that "constructive coloboration was established with the Prosecutor General's Office, anti-corruption agencies and other state bodies", adding that "there are positive results". At the same time, Timur Kulibayev said that, "in addition to protection of entrepreneurs, who addressed NCE for help, NCE is also working on the improvement of the legislation". "The law "on permits" was adopted, where everything is out together. Now an official, who wants to introduce a new permit or a license, shall coordinate it with the business community, the Government, the deputies. I believe that there a very good "filter" now, so that these powers do not get extended", - said the head of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs.

By the way, on the instruction of the Head of State the control and supervisory functions of state bodies will be analyzed this year. In Kazakhstan, there are 61 control and supervisory authorities, entrepreneurs have to comply with 28 thousand different requirements. NCE intends to reduce the number to more than two-thirds.

Perhaps later this year an article on pseudo-entrepreneurship will be removed from the Criminal Procedure Code. As Timur Kulibayev stated NCE "Atameken" conducts a dialogue with all government agencies in order to achieve the abolition of this legal provision.

If they complain - they trust us

"Atameken" receives a large number of complaints from businesses through the line of business protection. The applicants complain on the actions or inaction of public officials, entities of quasi-public sector, subjects of natural monopolies, point to administrative barriers, inadequate legislation and the presence of corruption provoking provisions of the law.

Today NCE RK is an indicator of the level of protection of Kazakhstani business. Analysis of incoming calls allows us to identify the most vulnerable areas of the business and industry laws.

Over 3 years of activity, NCE RK (central office and all regional chambers of entrepreneurs) received 17,236 appeals within the line of business protection. In 2014 it received 4 573 appeals, in 2015 - 5314 appeals, in 2016 - 7225 appeals (36% more than in 2015). This suggests that the business community's confidence to NCE RK grows, but also that there are a lot of systemic problems and administrative barriers in the activities of Kazakh entrepreneurs.

On average, experts of NCE RK achieve a positive result on 42% of the total number of appeals.

According to the results of reviewed  appeals, the experts of NCE RK protected property rights of entrepreneurs worth over 51.7 billion tenge (8.4 billion KZT - in 2014, 14.4 billion KZT - in 2015 and 28.9 billion tenge – in 2016). It is canceled fines, money returned by the state authorities, the cost of reatined business property, etc.

During 2016 the largest number of complaints were received in the following areas: 14% - taxation; 13% - procurement; 12% - land issues; 10% - disputes between business entities; 6% - architecture, construction, housing and communal services.

"The Constitution of the entrepreneur"

One of the most important events for Kazakhstani business - the adoption of Entrepreneurial Code – is a unique document, which has no analogues in the world. The subject of the Entrepreneurial Code is the relationship of Government and business. The ideology of the Code is unique - it is a kind of "Constitution of the entrepreneur". Entrepreneurial Code is needed not for government regulation of business, but for building a clear and understandable system of relations between the entrepreneur and the state.

Novels of the Code, initiated by the Chamber, in many respects make life easier for domestic entrepreneurs. First of all, it is a presumption of good faith for business. It implies that the businessman is originally conscientious and law-abiding, and should not have to prove it to the state. For the first time in the history of independent Kazakhstan, there was established the responsibility of officials for unlawful decisions, if it resulted in significant costs for entrepreneurs.

In addition, the Code sets out regulations on the institution of the Commissioner for the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs (Business Ombudsman). Another important point: the Code marked limits of state participation in entrepreneurial activity, fixed the principle of non-interference in the economic life of enterprises.
Without exaggeration, we can say that over the last two years NCE RK "Atameken" held a titanic work on the issue of identification and elimination of administrative barriers in law. Let's start with the fact that with the active participation of NCE were developed three key laws aimed at radical improvement of conditions for realization of entrepreneurial initiatives. This was carried out on the instructions of the Head of State.

Let the business breath!
So, what has been done. First of all, Parliament passed a bill on measures in order to improve radically conditions for doing business. This law made changes and additions to the 11 codes and 94 laws, relating to a variety of areas - environment, taxation, land relations, trade, construction, tourism, etc.

The effect of the adopted amendments reduced non-productive costs for business, timing of the receipt of various permits, reduced the possibility of corruption in interaction between business and the authorities. And it is not a mere declaration! According to preliminary calculations, the savings for business amounted to more than 14 billion tenge per year.

What specifically was implemented in the law? The first of all, routine inspections were eliminated. All business entities are divided into four groups according to a new system of risk management. Second of all, the number of reasons for the inspections was reduced. More than 4500 of mandatory requirements, non-compliance with which automatically triggered an audit were eliminated. Accordingly, fines were abolished, which have been imposed on the businessman for non-compliance. This will greatly reduce the burden on business.

Third of all, the role of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs was strengthened. The law has a provision for compulsory examination of all legal acts (draft law to the orders of a Minister), which affect the business sphere. But the main thing - the norm of mandatory regulatory impact analysis (RIA) on the business decisions, taken by the state authorities, was introduced to the legislation.