OREANDA-NEWS. April 16, 2010. Negotiations with an investor willing to sign an investment contract with Belarus should be held within three days when the investor applies to a national government agency, other state organization accountable to the government, an oblast executive committee (Minsk City Hall). The decision was laid down by the Council of Ministers’ resolution No 538 “Processing of investor’s applications in Belarus” of 9 April 2010, reported the Official website government.by.

The document is supposed to step up control over the processing of investor’s application due to the increasing number of slow decisions, to reduce the time it takes to implement an investment project and to build up on Council of Ministers resolution No 1449 “Measures to implement Belarus President Decree No 10 of 6 August 2009” of 6 November 2009.

In line with the resolution, a protocol to confirm negotiations with the investor have been held should be forwarded to the Council of Ministers within two days. The protocol has to determine responsibilities of a national government agency, an oblast executive committee (Minsk City Hall), the investor actual executives, and execution deadlines (at most a month after the investor has filed in the application).

Belarus First Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko has been assigned to control and coordinate cooperation with investors in projects of the industry, fuel and energy complex. Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Bambiza has been assigned to control projects in agribusiness, the processing of agricultural products, timber industry, Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Burya – housing construction, civil engineering industry, communication and information technologies, transport and communications, housing and utilities services, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov – trade and logistics projects, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Potupchik – social and cultural sphere, recreation and sanatorium treatment, sports (including projects relating to the 2014 world championships).

The Council of Ministers resolution has also assigned those personally responsible for making deadlines of the execution of protocols met: heads of national government agencies, other state organizations accountable to the government, oblast executive committees (Minsk City Hall). The vice premiers are supposed to ensure that deadlines that protocols specify are met. If the deadlines are not met, the vice premiers are supposed to suggest holding the guilty ones liable.