On 26 May President Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No 262 ‘On Some Issues Regarding the Placing by Foreign Organisations of Cash in Banks of the Republic of Belarus’.

The main purposes of the Decree are to liberalise the tax legislation and simplify for foreign investors the procedure of deploying cash.

The Decree eliminates the procedures that used to accompany the process of deployment by foreign nonresident organisations of cash in Belarusian banks on deposit accounts.

Specifically, foreign organisations no longer have to register with the local tax bodies when opening such bank accounts, neither have they to submit tax declarations. The bank where such an account is opened is obliged to inform, within one bank day, the tax body where it is registered on the opening (closing) of a deposit account by these organisations, as well as to submit to this body a tax declaration on paying returns on such deposits to the foreign organisation.

The adoption of this Decree marks another step toward liberalisation of economic life in Belarus.