REGISTERING a company, as well as entering it into the Commercial register will be able to be completed within a week following changes to regulations, legal experts said last week.

Changes to this effect will be made to the ordinance of the Justice Ministry on the matter, Deputy Minister of Justice Sevdalin Bozhikov told participants in a USAID project presentation that was held last Thursday, May 20.

Currently, there are no terms stipulated and the registration process, on average, usually takes a month. Soon, the registry entries will be done under unified rules and this will accelerate the procedure. Judges that fail to comply with the deadline could face disciplinary measures and, if the Judiciary Act is amended accordingly, could incur civil liability if the delayed registration has resulted in damages. The new rules could apply as soon as early 2005, Bozhikov said

USAID presented some of its proposals for the reform of commercial registration. The agency has recommended to pool the commercial register with the register of special pledges and to subordinate the consolidated entry system to the Justice Ministry. The new register should database on a national level the taxation, statistical and social security information flows as well as annual corporate reports, USAID said. The agency estimates the creation of the modern register will cost three million euro.