Atameken
The national chamber of entrepreneurs

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BUSINESS PROTECTION    

The Atameken NCE RK protects the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs. Over the years, we have received more than 27,000 appeals from businessmen. More than 40 per cent of problems are solved.

With the support of Atameken, the entrepreneurs were able to save 133.6 billion tenge. The above savings were canceled fines, penalties, additional charges, prevented property losses.

Systemic problems that require changes in legislation are included in the Republican Registry of Problems. It includes over 600 issues, 428 of them are fully resolved, and 123 issues are in the process of resolution.

The Atameken NCE RK protects the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs. Over the years, we have received more than 27,000 appeals from businessmen. More than 40 per cent of problems are solved.

With the support of Atameken, the entrepreneurs were able to save 133.6 billion tenge. The above savings were canceled fines, penalties, additional charges, prevented property losses.

Systemic problems that require changes in legislation are included in the Republican Registry of Problems. It includes over 600 issues, 428 of them are fully resolved, and 123 issues are in the process of resolution.

BUSINESS AND LAW

75 per cent of all comments and suggestions of the business are included in the bills and regulations!

The entrepreneurs got the opportunity together with Atameken to improve and develop laws.

All bills and legal acts that concern business are subject to mandatory coordination with the business community and Atameken.

If the entrepreneurs do not agree with the proposed norms of the draft law, they can amend them at the drafting stage.

The Atameken issued 26,821 expert opinions in bills and regulations.

BUSINESS AND CONTROL

Atameken together with the Government has significantly simplified and improved the conditions for doing business in Kazakhstan.

Reduction in number of inspections:

There were 183,000 inspections in 2013, 81,000 – in 2017.

The number of permits that entrepreneurs must receive is reduced by 72 per cent. There were 1115 permits, and now their number is 315.

The number of different requirements for entrepreneurs was reduced by 58 per cent.

There were 30 500 different requirements, and now their number is 13 000. (Only in the agencies of the Sanitary Epidemic Station the number of requirements set for business reduced from 11 000 to 1 700). 

Thus, the business received the opportunity to annual savings of 5.5 billion tenge and total (one-time) savings of 600 billion tenge.

(For example, the abolition of requirement to install control devices at oil depots reduced the financial losses of business by more than 67 billion tenge. The abolition of the requirement to undergo repeated state environmental impact assessment saved 750 million tenge etc.).

BUSINESS AND SELF-REGULATION

Since 2016, Atameken has accredited self-regulatory organizations and worked on the reform of the transfer of state functions to the competitive environment.

Atameken actively participates in the implementation of legislation on self-regulation. Thus, self-regulation based on compulsory membership was introduced in 2 areas:

 appraisal activity (Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On appraisal activity” signed on January 10, 2018);

legal advisers’ activities (Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On advocacy and legal assistance” signed on July 5, 2018).

Atameken participated in establishing basic approaches and developing tools for the qualitative implementation of state functions.  They affected 30 areas of public administration.

Atameken carried out an inventory of 15,000 functions of state agencies, analyzed 140 state functions, including 56 (40%) functions that were supported for transfer:

Transfer of 32 out of 94 functions into self-regulation;

Transfer of 5 out of 46 functions into a competitive environment.

According to the results of the inventory of functions, a list of functions of state bodies was divided into two main groups. The third group of functions proposed for consideration in 2020-2022 is formed on the basis of business and state bodies’ proposals.

The introduction of self-regulation in the areas of bankruptcy and rehabilitation, environmental auditing and departmental comprehensive expertise is currently being discussed.

BUSINESS AND FINES

Administrative fines for entrepreneurs reduced by 30 per cent relating 157 components of the offense. The business was able to pay fines with a 50 per cent discount.

The article "Pseudo-business" is excluded from the Criminal Code.

6 articles provide for exemption from liability if the violation was committed for the first time and the damage was compensated for voluntarily. As a result, more than 20,000 entrepreneurs continue to run business, that is retain their enterprises, and, accordingly, jobs.

BUSINESS AND TAXES

Business for the first time took part in the development of a new Tax Code. As a result, at the initiative of entrepreneurs, the following changes were adopted:

In order to reduce the burden on the wage fund, the social tax rate was reduced by 1.5 per cent;

 Provision for maintaining special tax regimes in force is envisaged;

The tax rate of the patent value has been reduced from 2 per cent to 1 per cent except the trading activities;

The limits of special tax regimes were revised on the basis of a simplified declaration of number and marginal income;

 For agricultural producers there is an adjustment of offsetting VAT, instead of 70 per cent benefits;

 Additionally, there is a new alternative regime based on a fixed deduction, on a voluntary basis;

 To eliminate the burden on small businesses, the current threshold for VAT in the amount of 30,000 MCI is maintained;

Revenues from e-commerce are exempt from CIT and IIT;

Subsoil users will be exempted from CIT dividends and cost increase in terms of processing;

The commercial discovery bonus on all contracts is canceled in the oil sector;

The subsoil user will be able to compensate for exploration costs for one field under another contract, where production began;

An alternative tax on subsoil use has been introduced for offshore and deep oil fields;

 The commercial discovery bonus on all contracts and the excess profit tax with a shift in the rent tax on exports of coal are canceled in the mining sector,;

The rate of MET on tin was revised from 6 per cent to 3 per cent.

From 2020, the statute of limitations for small and medium businesses is reduced from 5 to 3 years;

Costs are reduced for the appointment of unscheduled tax audits;

And most importantly: all the ambiguities and inaccuracies of the Tax Code will be interpreted in favor of entrepreneurs. A businessman will not pay fines and penalties if he acted in accordance with the explanation of the tax authority if the position subsequently changed on it.

BUSINESS AND CUSTOMS

The Atameken and business community made a proposal to the Customs legislation.

Since January 1, 2018, the Code “On Customs Regulation in the Republic of Kazakhstan” and the draft law “On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Customs Regulation” entered into force.

WHAT CHANGED FOR BUSINESS?

The possibility of legal introduction of single window mechanism is enshrined.

Conducting customs clearance can be carried out ex post. The list of goods and entrepreneurs who will be able to release of goods PRIOR to filing a customs declaration has been expanded;

Time frame for completion of customs transit has been reduced from 1 business day to 4 hours;

Transit time when extending of release dates has been reduced from 10 to 5 working days;

Business has the opportunity to defer payment of import customs duties and taxes: up to 1 month with interest paid for granting deferral (installment) to all participants in foreign economic activity; up to 6 months without interest - a certain category of goods established by the Code (state orders and goods for agricultural purposes);

Sale of goods in duty-free zones:

• Persons arriving from third countries;

• Persons departing from one EEU country to another EEU country;

The time frame for release of goods has been reduced:

- for registration of declaration from 2 hours to 1 hour;

- for release of goods from 1 business day to 4 working hours.

Providing the possibility of making changes and additions to the customs declaration before the release of goods

The time frame for small and medium businesses has been reduced:

• concerning claims of customs authorities for the recovery of customs payments;

• and storage of goods under Customs Control.

The requirements for owners of free warehouses, customs warehouses and warehouses for the storage of their own goods have been simplified.

 

 

BUSINESS AND PURCHASE

The Atameken NCE RK amended the Law on Public Procurement.

 They provide for:

- introduction of administrative responsibility in the quasi-public sector;

 -implementation of administrative responsibility for incomplete and late publication of procurement plans;

- mandatory indication of national standards of Kazakhstan;

- mandatory payment of an advance of 30 per cent for the procurement of construction works;

- setting minimum dumping thresholds;

- establishment of common approaches in prequalification;

- creation of a single point of access for procurement;

- establishment of exemptions from the national regime in order to support domestic manufacturers and protect the domestic market.

 An e-Register of domestic manufacturers of building materials, equipment, products and structures has been developed. The e-Registry has become mandatory in design of construction objects at the expense of budget funds.

The Atameken NCE RK and the Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna JSC (hereinafter – Fund) concluded an agreement, developed amendments to the Procurement Rules, aimed at supporting domestic manufacturers. They include:

- first priority of procurement among the manufacturers of the Fund;

- introduction of offtake agreements;

- a Program on creation new industries was developed (the procedure for conclusion of offtake agreements);

-regulation of the time frame of signing of acts of transfer and acceptance (10 working days);

-the requirement for the use of materials and equipment of Kazakhstani production, when purchasing of works in the amount of over 250 million tenge from manufacturers, members of the Register of the Fund;

-acquisition of import-substituting goods by a method from one source by direct conclusion of a contract;

The Register of domestic manufacturers of goods, works and services was compiled and the companies are issued on the basis of the Register an Industrial Certificate since January 1, 2019.

FREE SERVICES FOR BUSINESS

The Atameken NCE RK provided 174,536 entrepreneurs with FREE services (under the Business Roadmap 2020 program).

We help to prepare and submit a tax report for free, develop a business plan, conduct market research, submit of package of documents for obtaining a loan, etc.

Also, a business can get free advice on participation in government procurement and preparation of business documents. The service is also available online.

Services can be obtained at the Entrepreneurs Service Centers and Entrepreneurship Support Centers at the regional branches of the Chamber.

All services you can also get online via portal services.atameken.kz.

 

BUSINESS AND PERSONNEL

With the support of Atameken, 2555 enterprises train specialists for their production needs.

The Atameken NCE RK introduced the Dual Education System to solve the problem of lack of personnel in enterprises. More than 60 per cent of training time the students of colleges and universities do apprenticeship at enterprises, the rest of the time - they get theoretical knowledge.

The system has been implemented in 11 priority sectors, it covers 97 specialties and 150 qualifications.

In addition, the Atameken NCE RK and the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan hold the Rating of educational programs of Kazakhstani universities. Its goal is to bring training closer to market needs.

BUSINESS TRAINING

The Atameken NCE RK trains free of charge the unemployed and self-employed residents of the country within the Bastau project.

28,345 self-employed and unemployed citizens of 160 districts and 40 cities of Kazakhstan were trained in 2018.

The participants are paid scholarship and provided full support: from the development of a business plan to further assistance in doing business (accounting, taxation, protection of rights, etc.).

The Atameken also conducts training courses for potential entrepreneurs and already existing entrepreneurs - Business Advisor, Business Growth, Project Management Mentoring.

74,297 people trained within the Bastau project over 4 years, including 8553 graduates started business, 3816 graduates expanded their business, 3871 graduates received funding.

According to the Senior Professional project, 179 entrepreneurs improved business processes by attracting foreign specialists. According to the Business Connections project, 133 entrepreneurs did a business internship abroad.

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