Changes Of Licensing Rules

On 19 October 2015, the President of Azerbaijan took a much awaited step which should improve the business climate in Azerbaijan. The President issued a decree on the Decrease of the Number of Types of Special Permits (Licenses) Required for Business Activity, Simplification and Ensuring the Transparency of the Procedure for the Issuance of Special Permits (Licenses). The Decree assigns to the Ministry of Economy and Industry the authority to issue special permits (licenses) for all types of business activity "(except for cases arising from state security)" for which special permits (licenses) are required.

The Ministry of Economy and Industry will issue special permits (licenses) subject to the following rules:

Taking into account the nature of the types of business activity, where the Ministry of Economy and Industry considers it necessary, upon obtaining an opinion from the relevant state bodies Where the relevant state bodies fail to notify their opinion within the specified period of time, a positive opinion shall be considered given Special permits (licenses) shall be issued by the Ministry of Economy and Industry at the ASAN service centers. The Ministry of Economy and Industry shall provide its proposals to the President of Azerbaijan concerning:

A decrease to the minimum of the number of types of activities for which special permits (licenses) are required The list of types of...