Acting on a contract with the Policy and Management Consulting Group, Nove Partner Urmas Volens has reviewed the Draft Law on Business Organizations of the Republic of Kosovo, which was prepared by the Government of Kosovo through a working group led by the Kosovo Ministry of Trade and Industry (with support from USAID Partnerships for Development).
The Policy and Management Consulting Group is, together with Chemonics International Inc., actively working with the Government of Kosovo to create a more business-enabling environment under the USAID Partnerships for Development program.
The purpose of the Volens' review was to evaluate the draft law's general compliance with the April 1, 2016 Stabilization and Association Agreement between Kosovo and the EU (the SAA) and the EU Acquis, identify any improvements that can be made to further streamline requirements and processes within the broad EU framework, considering international best practices, and evaluate current and possible further improvements recommended by the World Bank's Doing Business report for Starting a Business and Protecting Minority Investors.
According to Nove, at the conclusion of Volens' review an extensive report was produced for the United States Agency for International Development.
“I was honored to participate in the project, which is so essential to the development of Kosovo and for its greater integration with the European Union,” said Volens, who is also an Associated Professor at the University of Tartu. "It was a highly interesting but complex project in which I could apply my experience from my earlier work in Estonian Ministry of Justice in developing Estonian corporate law. It is extremely important that countries like Estonia, which only recently have gone through a rapid and successful integration into the European Union, share their experiences and support to countries that are only at the beginning of this complex path. I am extremely grateful to USAID's Kosovo team for support and assistance without which the project would not have been able to succeed. As the final draft Law on Business Organizations should unify the goals of EU approximation, as well as consolidate previous Doing Business gains and further improvement, the draft must follow the SAA, but also reflect or exceed best practice examples from EU member countries that are reported in the annual World Bank Doing Business report.”
According to Nove, USAID Partnerships for Development (USAID PFD) is a 4 year and 8 months project to support Government of Kosovo (GoK) institutions at the central and local level to create a business-friendly, regionally competitive business environment that will attract foreign investment in Kosovo, while at the same time maintaining macro-economic stability. USAID PFD works closely with a wide range of GoK institutions and other stakeholders to achieve this objective by providing technical assistance for development of key policies and legislation that encourage private sector led economic growth in Kosovo. One of the most important laws in this area is the Law on Business Organizations, first adopted in 2008 and amended in 2011, which regulates business forms, business registration, corporate governance, and other relevant aspects.
