Coordinator of the Government and Civil Society Dialogue Platform on Open Government Partnership Initiatives, Alimammad Nuriyev made a statement about the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers ‘to make amendments to the registration procedures of the grant agreements (decrees)’.

According to the statement, this decree particularly simplifies the registration of grants from foreign donors stipulated by “The registration of the grant agreements (decrees)”; “We evaluate today’s decree of the Cabinet of Ministers about ‘The registration of the grant agreements (decrees)’ as a positive result of the N.1083 Decree dated 21 October 2016 signed by the President of Azerbaijan ‘on the application of the ‘single window’ principles when issuing foreign grants at the territory of Azerbaijan’, because this decree significantly eliminates many requirements that have been creating artificial barriers and bureaucracy on registration of the grant agreements and simplifies the registration procedures.

• The scope of documents are significantly reduced to be submitted for registration of the grant agreement;
• submission of a number of documents in a notary version is cancelled;
• if the subject of the grant agreement (decrees) is to carry out a service or a work, in this case the agreement is registered as a service contract;
• The submission and review period are increased for the registration of the grant agreement (decrees);
• Requirements to , if money of the grant obtained through crime or other property legalization, it is following the regulations of the Republic of Azerbaijan in combating terrorism, are cancelled.

All of these will significantly improve the legal environment in registration of grant agreements.

A.Nuriyev stated that suggestions of the Open Government Platform were taken into account in making the amendments to the ‘registration of the grant agreements (decrees)’: “It can be evaluated as a significant example of efficient discussions of the government-civil society institutions. The problems that worry civil society institutions are still being tackled.

According to A. Nuriyev, changes in the rules on donor grants are being prepared: “We consider that processes for implementation of the N.1083 Decree dated 21 October 2016 signed by the President of Azerbaijan ‘on the application of the ‘single window’ principles when issuing foreign grants at the territory of Azerbaijan’ have not been completed. After that, ‘the procedure of obtaining the right to grant by the foreign donors in the territory of Azerbaijan’ will undergo significant simplification.