The director of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Aktyubinsk region presented a report on live broadcast
On 25^th of February the director of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Aktyubinsk region Nurlybek Muanov presented a report via live broadcast on "Kazakhstan-Aktobe" TV channel.

During the hour-long airtime the speaker, answering the questions, spoke about the results of the activities of the Regional Chamber for 2016 and announced plans for the current one. The head of the Chamber praised achievements of the last year, naming it productive. The main event was the appointment of Bolat Palymbetov to the position of the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan by the Order of the Head of State.

NCE "Atameken" developed a map of regional business development www.businessnavigator.kz, which includes 10 investment projects of Aktyubinsk region. It contains information necessary for business in the context of regions and districts. This resource is also needed for potential investors.

One of the great achievements of the Regional Chamber was the launch of a microcredit program for rural entrepreneurs. For these purposes, the group of companies "Almex" allocated 300 million tenge. The initiative of RCE was supported by akim of the region Berdibek Saparbayev and the Fund for Financial Support of Agriculture, which allocated 300 million tenge. As a result, the loan portfolio was 900 million tenge. 225 projects of villagers were financed at these funds.

43 agricultural cooperatives were established in the region with the support of the department of the agro-industrial complex and district branches of the Regional Chamber of Entrepreneurs. RCE in conjunction with the Regional Akimat created a joint Commission for Monitoring Procurement of State Bodies has been established to promote the products of local commodity producers.

"Our main mission is not just to tackle the problems of businessmen, but to reach a concrete decision of the issue, and this is possible", - noted Nurlybek Muanov. We signed memorandums with the Regional Akimat and the Prosecutor's Office, as well as with other authorized bodies. We have created various platforms, the most effective of them today is the headquarters for the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs, operating on the platform of the regional prosecutor's office, and the Council for the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights on the site of RCE".

Under the regional chamber was established a Club of Lawyers, whose members are practicing lawyers and experienced lawyers from the Bar of the Lawyers of the region. All these tools give us the opportunity to take measures to protect our entrepreneurs. In 2016, 340 applications were received, 66% of them were resolved. For comparison, in 2015, out of 270 received appeals, 167 were positively resolved or 61 percent.

Based on the results of the analysis of complaints received from entrepreneurs of the region, the main ones are identified, which can be safely called systemic. These are issues in the field of construction, architecture and land law; taxation; state procurement; subsidies in the agricultural sector; tariffs for utilities (in terms of their appreciation); transport.

As it was noted by the head of the Aktyubinsk Chamber of Entrepreneurs, business does not have enough land. "The law says that the land should be sold through an auction. Akimat said that there was no money to prepare documents for the auction. In February 2016, we convinced the city akim of its necessity and 30 million tenge were allocated from the city budget. The documents were prepared documents on this money and an auction was held. As a result, 5 auctions were held in 2016. 46 plots of land have been sold through them. At the same time, the gross budget was replenished by 97 million KZT. This year, the akimat of the city held three auctions, during which 29 sites were sold for a total of more than 113 million tenge".

In order to resolve this issue systematically, the Regional Chamber came out with a proposal to NCE "Atameken" to require local executive bodies to allocate constantly budget funds for holding auctions for land plots. The initiative was supported by the Business Ombudsman Bolat Palymbetov. And we hope that this year the issue will find its solution at the level of RLAs.

In total, the Regional Chamber received 783 complaints from 2014, of which 60 percent were resolved in favor of businessmen. The property rights of entrepreneurs for a total amount of 6.4 billion tenge were protected during this period, including more than 1.1 billion tenge in 2016. Last year, 79 systemic business problems were identified (at the local level - 44, at the national level - 35). 44 problems were resolved.

As for administrative barriers, it is worthwhile to give some examples when they were eliminated with the help of the Regional Chamber. So, it became possible to take into operation the objects introduced at the expense of private investments in the semi-final version. A decision was taken by local executive bodies to determine the location of outbound and street trade, where the number of trade points offered by the local executive bodies was more than 100 in various parts of Aktobe. The amount of food expenses in pre-school and educational institutions has been increased from 107 tenge to 160 tenge per day for the child with the allocation of additional funds from the budget. The Department for the Protection of Consumer Rights discontinued the practice of appointing inspections of business entities that have positive sanitary and audit records.

The tax authorities stopped to collect VAT from importers of such medical equipment and products, as wheelchairs, walking sticks, and others. The practice of JSC "Transenergo" of imposing fees for checking the heating system in preparation for the heating period was discontinued. Business was provided access to the basements of residential buildings of the micro districts "Nur Atybebe" through competitions. Previously, these premises were unavailable, only two shops were open. In 2016, five basements were leased and two more were given in trust management.

Entrepreneurs apply for help to professional arbitrators of the Arbitration Center of NCE RK "Atameken". They resolve their disputes without financial and time costs. Decisions of arbitrators have the same force as judicial decisions. This is despite the fact that entrepreneurs themselves choose an arbitrator.

Now, at the initiative of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, a committee to review business complaints will be formed under the Ministry of Finance, which will include representatives of SRC, the Ministry of Finance, NCE and other interested parties. Since 1^st of July this year, the Institute of Pre-judicial Settlement of Tax and Customs Disputes will be introduced under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the participation of experts from the NCE. This year the project on training to basics of entrepreneurship "Bastau Business" is launched in the framework of the state program of productive employment and the development of mass entrepreneurship. Training of self-employed and unemployed people with further support of their projects until full implementation.

This year, the issue of protection of business rights is in the priority. In accordance with the Address of the Head of the State, the Chamber of Entrepreneurs will work to revise the legislation, to support the domestic producer in procurement, to study the import substitution issue, to develop PPP, to develop business in the countryside, to develop human capital and other current issues that trouble businessmen.

It is noteworthy that this year the report of the Director of RCE was presented in a new format, covering a large number of audiences. TV viewers had the opportunity to ask their questions by dialing direct number. Active users of social networks took part in an interactive broadcast on Facebook, and also left comments on the site of the channel in an online mode.

In total, the TV presenter asked the speaker 15 questions. During the airtime, 6 telephone calls from viewers were received, not only from local residents, but also from districts and even other regions of the country, for example from Almaty. Questions related to the possibility of entrepreneurs' participation in the development of town’s logistics, the implementation of the PPP program, the project for the creation of a farm cooperative and the sale of products, permits, etc., entrepreneurs who were invited to the studio also spoke. It was a kind of fact of real assistance of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the region to business. The full version of the speech delivered by the director of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Aktyubinsk region Nurlybek Muanov can be seen here.