Study of Small and Medium Enterprises in Azerbaijan - IFC

set out in the law on Banks 21 , while the documents required for obtaining broadcasting
license are listed in the law on Television and Radio Broadcasting 22 .
Pursuant to Article 2 of the Licensing Rules, where deemed necessary, a license-issuing
authority can apply to other government agencies for an opinion in connection with
the specificities of a licensed activity. It appears that an opinion may be required by a
license-issuing authority to clarify an aspect of licensed activity about which it may
not have specific knowledge. The circumstances in which this official opinion may be
required are not elaborated in the Rules.
If the applicant is refused a license, an official response to this effect must explain the
grounds for such refusal. However, the Licensing Rules do not contain a list of specific
grounds on which the issue of a license can be refused and leave this matter to be resolved
by the specialized laws that deal with specific sector licenses. The analysis suggests
that specialized licensing laws do not necessarily comply with the framework licensing
law or fail to set clear, predictable, and transparent criteria for obtaining licenses (see Box
4.2). This in turn leaves a certain degree of discretionary power to licensing bodies.
Box 4.2 The procedure for receiving air transportation license is unclear
Under the Licensing Rules, the State Administration for Civil Aviation is empowered to issue a license for the carriage of cargo and passengers
by air transport. However, this agency does not currently issue such licenses in practice. Commercial flights are operated on the basis of air
operator certificates issued by the State Concern Azerbaijani Airlines, even though one air operator certificate states that “flight operations
specified on the present certificate come into effect upon obtaining a special permit (license).”
While the Rules specify limits for the amount of time agencies can take to process
applications (15 days), they do not provide for any sanctions for non-observance of
the deadlines by licensors during the application process nor do they establish the
“silence is consent” principle. As a result, the time to obtain a license in practice may
vary and the licensing applicant can adversely be affected by the delays.
4.2 Licensing coverage
Adoption of the Licensing Rules reduced the number of licensable activities from 240
to 30. However, subsequent amendments to the Rules have increased the number
of licensable activities from 30 to 56 (see Chart 4.1). Nevertheless, the current situation
represents a significant step forward in terms of number of activities subject to
licensing.
21
Dated March 30, 2004.
22
Dated June 25, 2002.
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St u d y o f Sma l l a n d Me d i u m Ent e r p r i s es in Az e r b a i j a n