Invitation to the Press

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to A PUBLIC DISCUSSION of the draft LAW ON THE BUSINESS REGISTER that will take place on Friday October 21, 2005 from 9:30 AM to 16:00 PM in Alexander Hall of the Radisson SAS Hotel in Sofia. The discussion is organized by the Commercial Law Reform Program of the American Agency for International Development and the Center for the Study of Democracy in cooperation with the Registration Agency to the Ministry of Justice.

The Draft Law on the Business Register is designed by an interagency working group of experts established with a Decision of the Council of Ministers in May, 2005. The objective of the Law is to set forth the implementation of the first stage of the Strategy for Establishment of a Central Register of the Legal Entities and an Electronic Registration Center of the Republic of Bulgaria. The adoption of such a law is needed in relation with the requirement of the European Union to all member states to provide for electronic registration of companies by January 1, 2007.

The objective of the reform, which is supported by the business sector, is to establish a modern business register that would increase the security on the market and and would reduce the cost and time for registration of commercial entities. The changes provisioned in the law will secure overall improvement of the business climate in Bulgaria and increase of investments. Additional advantage of the draft law is the fact that it will relieve the judicial system from untypical activities and thus will favor the judicial reform.

Best European practices were used in the drafting of the law. It provisions the establishment of a unified national electronic register of the commercial entities that will be administrated by the Registration Agency to the Ministry of Justice. Standardization of the requirements and registration practice is a key point in the draft law. This will eliminate discretion on the part of administration and will expedite the procedure.

Participants will include representatives of the business organizations, the bar, judges and foreign experts.

We are convinced that your participation will support the idea of holding a wide public discussion on this major reform.

For additional information:
Ralitsa Petrova, 0888/420-810; 989 96 61