Deputies introduced a bill to the State Duma to simplify obtaining licenses for businesses

A group of parliamentarians submitted a bill to the State Duma this week to simplify the process of obtaining licenses for businesses. The document involves shortening the procedure and expanding the use of the remote format. The bill has not yet been submitted to the government, but they initially support the amendments. Businesses note that obtaining licenses has already been simplified thanks to the transfer of the procedure to State Services, but hopes for continued qualitative changes in this area.

A number of State Duma deputies, including the head of the Economic Policy Committee Maxim Topilin, and senators Nikolai Zhuravlev and Ivan Abramov introduced a bill to improve the convenience of licensing for businesses. Amendments to Federal Law No. 99-FZ of May 4, 2011 “On Licensing” involve simplifying and speeding up interaction with licensing authorities and making changes to the register of licenses. The draft also expands the use of remote assessment of applicants’ compliance with licensing requirements where such capability is not provided for in specific licensing regulations. Reducing the time frame for making changes to the register of licenses, terminating a license at the request of the licensee, as well as notifying the applicant about conducting on-site assessments will be possible if specific types of activities are included in the licensing regulations.

The initiative aligns with the White House’s efforts to streamline licensing and permitting. In 2023, the government conducted the second stage of the experiment on issuing licenses and permits in a simplified format – it is supervised by Deputy Prime Minister and White House Chief of Staff Dmitry Grigorenko. The experiment ended on September 1, 2023 (see “Kommersant” dated December 12, 2023). Dmitry Grigorenko’s office told Kommersant that the bill has not yet been submitted to the government for consideration. At the same time, having previously read the document, they note the demand for the initiative. The Ministry of Economy also supports the amendments – the remote format will save time and money for entrepreneurs on organizing and conducting assessments of compliance with licensing requirements, and will ensure the protection of their rights and interests.

Deputy Executive Director of Support of Russia Ivan Efremenkov notes that currently, government decree No. 353 of March 12, 2022 on the specifics of licensing activities is in force as a counter-sanction measure, giving relevant ministries the right to reduce the terms of permitting procedures, lists of documents, etc. until 2024. (see Kommersant-Online, November 3, 2023). “The bill actually transfers this temporary measure to a permanent basis,” he says: during the time the norm was in effect, decisions to simplify licensing were made only on a very limited list.

In Business Russia, the amendments are considered to be targeted – according to the executive secretary of the Expert Center of the Association for CND Denis Domashnev, one of the key areas for improving licensing should be work on a mechanism for preventing unreasonable refusals by government agencies to issue licenses on formal grounds with general wording – for example, about providing “incomplete” or “inaccurate” information. “As a result, businesses can’t even understand what exactly needs to be fixed,” he says.

Let us recall that in 2023, a service for pre-trial appeal of the actions of the licensing authority was launched on the State Services portal. The share of refusals for applications submitted through the portal in 2023 was 22% for licenses and 26% for permits, Dmitry Grigorenko’s office said. “Systematic monitoring of the grounds for refusal to grant licenses and permits has been organized. The permitting authorities transmit the reasons for refusals and monitor the dynamics of changes in their share,” they note, adding that the Government Analytical Center and the Ministry of Economy analyze the information, systematize it and report to the White House. After which, the White House staff reported, they “work through, analyze in detail each basis for the refusal, take into account the refusals that were complained about through the service on the government services portal” and “correct the work of departments.”

Venera Petrova