Opening a business in the countries of Caucasus and Central Asia

If you are interested in establishing a presence in a new market, restructuring your current operations, or expanding the geographical coverage of your business, the jurisdictions of Caucasus and Central Asia could offer a great potential from economic and legal standpoints. The region is strategically located between Europe and Asia, offering a unique position for companies who do business in both markets.

We would like to share with you a series of materials that introduce the legal framework and general conditions of establishing and operating legal entities in the following countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.

A new Regulation on “Opening, maintaining and closing bank accounts” was adopted

According to the Resolution of the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan #04/2 dated 4 February 2022, the Rules on “Opening, maintaining and closing bank accounts” from 10 June 2019 have ceased to be legally valid, and a new Regulation on “Opening, maintaining and closing bank accounts” was adopted.

New law on payment systems

At the beginning of May 2022, the Law «On Payment Systems and Payment Services» (hereinafter as the Law) was signed in Belarus. For the first time in Belarus, implementation of payment activities, requirements for payment systems and participants in the payment market have been fixed on a comprehensive basis.

Banking Regulation Review

Events in 2021 resulted in the Kazakh economy, in particular the financial sector, having to face the combined challenge of a continued reduction in oil prices and new strains of covid-19. However, according to the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (AFR), the negative impact of these challenges on the Kazakh banking sector was not as severe as expected, and in 2021 banking sector started gradually to recover. 

On the adoption of the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Public Procurement"

The law is aimed at simplifying public procurement procedures and minimizing corruption, improving the welfare of the nation through sustainable development by regulating relations related to the functioning of procuring organizations in order to create conditions for achieving maximum benefits through efficient and economical use of resources.

Legal regulation of public offering and sales of securities

One of the alternative ways to attract investment and expand one’s business is the public offering and sales of securities. As of 2021, there are 314 joint-stock companies (hereinafter the “JSC”) registered in Mongolia, and securities worth MNT 1.4 trillion (app USD 452.09 million) were traded on the market which is 21.6 times higher from 2020 and increased results by 64.3 percent from 2017. 

Uzbekistan adopts Cybersecurity Law

The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Cybersecurity” No. ЗРУ-764 dated April 15, 2022 (the “Cybersecurity Law”) will enter into force on July 17, 2022. The Cybersecurity Law consists of 40 articles and is intended to regulate relations in the field of cybersecurity.