«Decree of the President Sadyr Japarov on additional measures to protect business entities is an urgent step, given the objective difficulties existing in the business environment today,» Business Ombudsman of Kyrgyzstan Robin Ord-Smith said.
According to him, quick implementation of the provisions of the adopted decrees on protection of business will reduce the impact of some systemic problems of the business environment of the Kyrgyz Republic. In particular, this is increased pressure by the fiscal and law enforcement agencies on business entities, inconsistency of decisions made by state bodies, cancellation of previously made decisions by them, illegal and unjustified decision-making in favor of the state, not business.
«Adoption of the decree speaks of understanding of the need for urgent action to protect the rights of business entities and the political will to take decisive measures on the part of the country’s leadership,» Robin Ord-Smith believes.
This is evidenced by clauses of the decree requiring to step up work to detect, suppress activities and bring to personal responsibility the law enforcement officers who carry out illegal checks and otherwise impede the activities of entrepreneurs. The President also drew attention to the need for amendments and additions to the criminal and criminal procedural legislation aimed at decriminalizing economic crimes.
The Business Ombudsman asks the state leadership to pay additional attention to the need to bring to personal responsibility for illegal actions that entail losses to entrepreneurs not only law enforcement officers responsible for executing orders, but also the heads of these law enforcement agencies.
The Business Ombudsman stressed the importance of introducing the principle of fair and harmless personal responsibility of employees of not only law enforcement agencies, but also other public authorities.
It is necessary to ensure the obligation, validity and general transparency of the application of the mechanism of temporary rules for registration of inspections carried out by law enforcement agencies and the Tax Service in relation to business entities and local governments.
«In addition to the provisions set out in the decree, it is necessary to exclude or amend Paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Article 35 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Kyrgyz Republic to eliminate the possibility of illegal and unreasonable inspections by law enforcement agencies that take place despite the ban on inspections. The unnecessary and unjustified use of arrests of company managers and employees must be reduced. It is necessary to use the practice of recognizance as a preventive measure,» Robin Ord-Smith said.
