On 6 August President Alexander Lukashenko issued Ordinance No 10 ‘On Creating Additional Conditions for Investment Activities in the Republic of Belarus’.

This ordinance sets the rules that make it easier to start investment projects in the Republic of Belarus and identifies investors’ responsibilities in this respect.

According to this document, contracts with investors should contain all the necessary information on investment projects, including the object of investment, the place, the amount of funding made available for it, the project deadline, and the penalties for failure to comply with contract terms. Stipulated are also general preferences for projects carried out as part of investment contracts.

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:

The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus with the approval of the President of the Republic of Belarus if the contract implies the provision of preferences to the investor which are stipulated neither in national legal acts nor in other legal documents issued by the Head of State;

The Council of Ministers if the contract implies the provision of privileges and preferences to the investor which are stipulated in national legal acts or other legal documents issued by the Head of State;

A national state administration body or other state organisation subordinate to the Government, by an oblast regional executive committee, or the Minsk City Executive Committee in cases when no preferences are required for the implementation of an investment project.

The ordinance stipulates the mandatory conditions for the conclusion of investment contracts and provides for the opportunity to expand them depending on the specific nature of the industry and the investment project.