Since February 19, 2014, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan maintains the Register of Problems. The Register is a platform for an entrepreneur to address problems that hinder his or her case. The Atameken structures these problems and assists the businessman in its activities.

The task of the Register of Problems is to systematize, evaluate and control them completely. Also, Atameken develops and creates a set of measures to solve systemic problems. Most often, the Register includes problems arising from the imperfection or non-implementation of the norms of the current legislation by state bodies, issues of the incompetence of officials, etc.

Since the beginning of this year, Atameken has solved 7 key systemic problems of entrepreneurs. Let's consider them in detail.

Bought a good to get it back

In 2017, the Problem Register included a problematic issue of how to give a refund for the customer if he wants to return the goods that he bought at a discount.

The problem was that unscrupulous purchasers intentionally purchased goods in stores during the periods of discounts for the subsequent return. The problem was solved by the amendment to the legislation "On Protection of Consumer Rights". Now, upon the termination of the contract, payments to the consumer are made based on the price of the goods at the time of purchase.

The puzzle of buying a weapon

Collisions in the law were misleading for hunting enthusiasts.

Thus, the law "On State Control over the Turnover of Certain Types of Weapons" prohibits citizens from purchasing pneumatic weapons with a caliber of more than 4.5 mm. While the same type of weapons can be purchased and stored by permission of the internal affairs bodies, according to the resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On measures to implement the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On state control over the turnover of certain types of weapons".

The issue was resolved after the intervention of the Atameken NCE RK - the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RK introduced new rules and double interpretation was excluded.

A similar problem was encountered in the ban on hunting with pneumatic weapons, which affected entrepreneurs who sell them.

Hunting is carried out with the use of pneumatic weapons with muzzle energy of no more than 25 J. This is stipulated in the order of the Ministry of Agriculture of the RK. Thus, in the same order, it is forbidden to make hunting with application of pneumatic, throwing weapon (except for use of bows and crossbows for carrying out research and preventive works). In addition, according to Article 5 of the Law on state control over the circulation of certain types of weapons, the pneumatic weapons with muzzle energy of no more than 25 J refers to hunting weapons.

The situation was resolved by amendments to the order of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Today there are no conflicts in the norm of law - hunting with the use of pneumatic weapons is prohibited.

Another arms issue was resolved after the intervention of the Atameken. Thus, the order of the MIID RK "On approval of qualification requirements for the development, production, repair, trade, acquisition of hand-held firearms and ammunition and the list of documents confirming their compliance" the entrepreneur was required to provide a permit of the National Security Committee of the RK with the use of information constituting state secrets in order to obtain a license for the trade of hand-held firearms.

Since Atameken held discussions with the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development to resolve these complex licensing procedures, the Ministry has made adjustments to the procedures.  The order eliminated the requirements to obtain permission from the national security authorities.

Different demands have led to a dead-end

The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan announced a competition in the field of public catering, but the requirements were not fully elaborated.

The order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On approval of the Rules of organization of catering, studying in the organizations of secondary education and purchase of the goods connected with provision of nutrition of children, brought up and studying in preschool organizations of education, organizations of education for orphans and children without parental care" recognizes the winner of the competition the supplier who has gained the greatest amount of points and offered the best conditions of performance of obligations in comparison with others. At the same time, in accordance with the criteria for selecting a provider of services or goods, it was envisaged the availability of experience in the market, i.e. preference was given to entities that provide services (goods) only in the field of secondary education.

Due to the different requirements in the competition, it appeared that having a long experience in the field of catering, the applicant was not able to compete with other market participants, causing anticompetitive practices.

After the discussion with the Ministry, Atameken removed the problem from the Register – the rules were amended.

 Paying the toll for access to the market place

Ensuring access to domestic products of daily demand to retail networks was identified as a Republican problem and has been in the Atameken’s Register of the problem since 2016.

Entrepreneurs complained about significant fees charged by retailers for the rental of retail shelves, the so-called "toll for access to the market place ", long deferral periods for payment for delivered products (up to 90 days) and unequal conditions regarding the return of unsold goods.

This issue has been resolved within the framework of the law signed by the Head of State "On introducing amendments and addenda to some legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the development of business environment and regulation of trade activities". Amendments were made to the law on the regulation of trade activities in terms of establishing retro-bonuses (trade remuneration) for suppliers of socially important food products at 0%, and for other food products at 5% of the amount of the supply contract.

Approval of “Business on Wheels"

The same law also solves another problem of entrepreneurs engaged in outdoor and mobile trade, in other words, "business on wheels".

Such entrepreneurial activity is virtually non-existent in Kazakhstan. However, the study of international experience has shown that it is a "business on wheels" that has been popular in Europe and the United States for decades. Entrepreneurs rent trucks and buses, equipped them to feed hundreds of people a day, constantly changing their location. People in this business are attracted primarily by low investment costs and high profitability.

However, the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan did not allow opening such a business. The main barriers were sanitary norms, fire rules and the need to obtain permits to start a business.

In order to obtain the permit, it is necessary to comply with a number of requirements that have been developed only for stationary catering facilities, including the requirement that catering facilities should be located only in buildings and premises with a centralized system of cold and hot water supply, sewerage, toilets, ventilation systems, warehouses, industrial premises, etc.

Amendments signed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the issues of business environment development and regulation of trade activities of the local executive bodies were vested with the competence to identify and approve places and (or) routes for placement of non-stationary trade facilities.