Ministry of Trade: Decree #222 will remain in force

The presidential decree on the regulation of private entrepreneurs and other physical entities’ trade will not be cancelled, Minister of Trade Uladzimir Kaltovich announced on Belarus 1. Alyaksandr Lukashenka made a similar statement earlier (see the video).

“The government and businessmen need to decide how to work with this decree,” Kaltovich said. This is already happening, he reminded. A work group consisting of officials and entrepreneurs’ representatives is regularly gathering, he said. “The government is interested in letting business work,” the Minister stressed.

Decree #222 obliges entrepreneurs to get certificates for light industry goods. However, it is impossible to get such documents in Russia, entrepreneurs say. Many private entrepreneurs have stopped working to avoid fines in Belarus. A protest action had to be held in Minsk on February 15 but the association Perspectiva cancelled it. Some activists of the entrepreneurs’ movement including ex-political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich are urging to organize an unauthorized action on Monday.