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Cover design: The Word Express Doing Business 2014 Latvia 3 CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4 The business environment .......................................................................................................... 5 Starting a business ..................................................................................................................... 14 Dealing with construction permits ........................................................................................... 23 Getting electricity ....................................................................................................................... 33 Registering property .................................................................................................................. 41 Getting credit .............................................................................................................................. 50 Protecting investors ................................................................................................................... 57 Paying taxes ................................................................................................................................ 66 Trading across borders .............................................................................................................. 73 Enforcing contracts .................................................................................................................... 81 Resolving insolvency .................................................................................................................. 90 Employing workers .................................................................................................................... 95 Data notes ................................................................................................................................. 102 Resources on the Doing Business website ............................................................................ 108 Doing Business 2014 Latvia 4 INTRODUCTION Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to January–December 2012). medium-size business when complying with relevant The Doing Business methodology has limitations. Other regulations. It measures and tracks changes in areas important to business—such as an economy’s regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a proximity to large markets, the quality of its business: starting a business, dealing with construction infrastructure services (other than those related to permits, getting electricity, registering property, trading across borders and getting electricity), the getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, security of property from theft and looting, the trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving transparency of government procurement, insolvency and employing workers. macroeconomic conditions or the underlying strength In a series of annual reports Doing Business presents of institutions—are not directly studied by Doing quantitative indicators on business regulations and the Business. The indicators refer to a specific type of protection of property rights that can be compared business, generally a local limited liability company across 189 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, operating in the largest business city. Because over time. The data set covers 47 economies in Sub- standard assumptions are used in the data collection, Saharan Africa, 33 in Latin America and the Caribbean, comparisons and benchmarks are valid across 25 in East Asia and the Pacific, 25 in Eastern Europe economies. The data not only highlight the extent of and Central Asia, 20 in the Middle East and North obstacles to doing business; they also help identify the Africa and 8 in South Asia, as well as 31 OECD high- source of those obstacles, supporting policy makers in income economies. The indicators are used to analyze designing regulatory reform. economic outcomes and identify what reforms have More information is available in the full report. Doing worked, where and why. Business 2014 presents the indicators, analyzes their This economy profile presents the Doing Business relationship with economic outcomes and presents indicators for Latvia. To allow useful comparison, it also business regulatory reforms. The data, along with provides data for other selected economies information on ordering Doing Business 2014, are (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in available on the Doing Business website at this report are current as of June 1, 2013 (except for http://www.doingbusiness.org. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 5 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT For policy makers trying to improve their economy’s regulatory environment for business, a good place to ECONOMY OVERVIEW start is to find out how it compares with the regulatory environment in other economies. Doing Business provides an aggregate ranking on the ease of doing Region: Europe & Central Asia business based on indicator sets that measure and benchmark regulations applying to domestic small to Income category: High income medium-size businesses through their life cycle. Economies are ranked from 1 to 189 by the ease of Population: 2,025,473 doing business index. For each economy the index is calculated as the ranking on the simple average of its GNI per capita (US$): 14,180 percentile rankings on each of the 10 topics included in the index in Doing Business 2014: starting a business, DB2014 rank: 24 dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting DB2013 rank: 24* investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, Change in rank: 0 enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. The ranking on each topic is the simple average of the DB 2014 DTF: 75.77 percentile rankings on its component indicators (see the data notes for more details). The employing workers DB 2013 DTF: 74.57 indicators are not included in this year’s aggregate ease of doing business ranking, but the data are presented Change in DTF: 1.17 in this year’s economy profile. The aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business * DB2013 ranking shown is not last year’s published benchmarks each economy’s performance on the ranking but a comparable ranking for DB2013 that indicators against that of all other economies in the captures the effects of such factors as data Doing Business sample (figure 1.1). While this ranking corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, tells much about the business environment in an Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the economy, it does not tell the whole story. The ranking on sample this year. See the data notes for sources and the ease of doing business, and the underlying definitions. indicators, do not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors or that affect the competitiveness of the economy. Still, a high ranking does mean that the government has created a regulatory environment conducive to operating a business. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 6 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Figure 1.1 Where economies stand in the global ranking on the ease of doing business Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 7 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT For policy makers, knowing where their economy relative to the regional average (figure 1.2). The stands in the aggregate ranking on the ease of economy’s rankings on the topics included in the doing business is useful. Also useful is to know how ease of doing business index provide another it ranks relative to comparator economies and perspective (figure 1.3). Figure 1.2 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of doing business Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 8 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Figure 1.3 How Latvia ranks on Doing Business topics Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 9 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Just as the overall ranking on the ease of doing business Doing Business introduced the distance to frontier tells only part of the story, so do changes in that ranking. measure. This measure shows how far on average an Yearly movements in rankings can provide some indication economy is from the best performance achieved by any of changes in an economy’s regulatory environment for economy on each Doing Business indicator since 2005, firms, but they are always relative. except for the getting electricity indicators, which were introduced in 2009. Moreover, year-to-year changes in the overall rankings do not reflect how the business regulatory environment in an Comparing the measure for an economy at 2 points in economy has changed over time—or how it has changed time allows users to assess how much the economy’s in different areas. To aid in assessing such changes, regulatory environment as measured by Doing Business has changed over time—how far it has moved toward (or away from) the most efficient practices and strongest regulations in areas covered by Doing Business (figure 1.4). Figure 1.4 How far has Latvia come in the areas measured by Doing Business? Note: The distance to frontier measure shows how far on average an economy is from the best performance achieved by any economy on each Doing Business indicator since 2005, except for the getting electricity indicators, which were introduced in 2009. The measure is normalized to range between 0 and 100, with 100 representing the best performance (the frontier). The overall distance to frontier is the average of the distance to frontier in the first 9 indicator sets shown in the figure and does not include getting electricity. Data on the overall distance to frontier including getting electricity is available at http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/distance-to-frontier. See the data notes for more details on the distance to frontier measure. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 10 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT The absolute values of the indicators tell another part business regulation—such as a regulatory process that of the story (table 1.1). The indicators, on their own or can be completed with a small number of procedures in comparison with the indicators of a good practice in a few days and at a low cost. Comparison of the economy or those of comparator economies in the economy’s indicators today with those in the previous region, may reveal bottlenecks reflected in large year may show where substantial bottlenecks persist — numbers of procedures, long delays or high costs. Or and where they are diminishing. they may reveal unexpected strengths in an area of Table 1.1 Summary of Doing Business indicators for Latvia Best performer globally Lithuania DB2014 Denmark DB2014 Norway DB2014 Finland DB2014 Estonia DB2014 Poland DB2014 Indicator Latvia DB2014 Latvia DB2013 DB2014 Starting a Business 57 59 40 61 55 11 53 116 New Zealand (1) (rank) Procedures (number) 4 4 4 5 3 4 5 4 New Zealand (1)* Time (days) 12.5 15.5 5.5 6.5 14.0 6.5 7.0 30.0 New Zealand (0.5) Cost (% of income per 1.9 2.3 0.2 1.5 1.1 0.9 1.6 14.3 Slovenia (0.0) capita) Paid-in Min. Capital (% 0.0 0.0 23.9 20.6 7.0 0.0 5.1 12.6 112 Economies (0.0)* of income per capita) Dealing with Hong Kong SAR, Construction Permits 79 118 8 38 36 39 28 88 China (1) (rank) Hong Kong SAR, Procedures (number) 18 21 8 13 16 16 10 18 China (6) Time (days) 152.0 203.0 67.0 148.0 66.0 105.0 136.0 161.0 Singapore (26.0) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 11 Best performer globally Lithuania DB2014 Denmark DB2014 Norway DB2014 Finland DB2014 Estonia DB2014 Poland DB2014 Indicator Latvia DB2014 Latvia DB2013 DB2014 Cost (% of income per 15.4 18.6 87.2 15.0 43.3 18.0 28.6 10.6 Qatar (1.1) capita) Getting Electricity 83 89 18 56 22 75 17 137 Iceland (1) (rank) Procedures (number) 5 5 4 4 5 5 4 6 10 Economies (3)* Time (days) 108 108 38 111 42 148 66 161 Germany (17) Cost (% of income per 326.1 389.1 118.4 188.0 29.6 48.1 12.1 205.2 Japan (0.0) capita) Registering Property 33 29 7 15 26 6 10 54 Georgia (1) (rank) Procedures (number) 5 5 3 3 3 3 1 6 4 Economies (1)* Time (days) 18.0 18.0 4.0 17.5 14.0 2.5 3.0 35.0 New Zealand (1.0)* Cost (% of property 2.0 2.0 0.6 0.5 4.0 0.8 2.5 0.4 5 Economies (0.0)* value) Getting Credit (rank) 3 3 28 42 42 28 73 3 Malaysia (1)* Strength of legal rights 10 10 9 7 8 7 6 9 10 Economies (10)* index (0-10) Depth of credit 5 5 4 5 4 6 4 6 31 Economies (6)* information index (0-6) Public registry coverage 73.6 63.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 28.3 0.0 0.0 Portugal (100.0)* (% of adults) Private bureau 0.0 0.0 7.5 33.7 19.5 89.4 100.0 82.8 22 Economies (100.0)* coverage (% of adults) Protecting Investors 68 67 34 68 68 68 22 52 New Zealand (1) (rank) Extent of disclosure 5 5 7 8 6 7 7 7 10 Economies (10)* Doing Business 2014 Latvia 12 Best performer globally Lithuania DB2014 Denmark DB2014 Norway DB2014 Finland DB2014 Estonia DB2014 Poland DB2014 Indicator Latvia DB2014 Latvia DB2013 DB2014 index (0-10) Extent of director 4 4 5 3 4 4 6 2 Cambodia (10) liability index (0-10) Ease of shareholder 8 8 7 6 7 6 7 9 3 Economies (10)* suits index (0-10) Strength of investor 5.7 5.7 6.3 5.7 5.7 5.7 6.7 6.0 New Zealand (9.7) protection index (0-10) United Arab Emirates Paying Taxes (rank) 49 52 12 32 21 56 17 113 (1) Payments (number per Hong Kong SAR, 7 7 10 7 8 11 4 18 year) China (3)* United Arab Emirates Time (hours per year) 264 264 130 81 93 175 83 286 (12) Trading Across Borders 17 23 8 7 9 15 26 49 Singapore (1) (rank) Documents to export 5 5 4 3 4 4 4 5 Ireland (2)* (number) Time to export (days) 10 10 6 6 9 10 8 17 5 Economies (6)* Cost to export (US$ per 600 600 795 765 615 750 1,225 1,050 Malaysia (450) container) Documents to import 5 6 3 4 5 5 5 4 Ireland (2)* (number) Time to import (days) 11 11 5 5 7 9 7 14 Singapore (4) Cost to import (US$ per 801 801 745 795 625 800 1,100 1,025 Singapore (440) container) Enforcing Contracts 21 21 32 26 8 17 4 55 Luxembourg (1) (rank) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 13 Best performer globally Lithuania DB2014 Denmark DB2014 Norway DB2014 Finland DB2014 Estonia DB2014 Poland DB2014 Indicator Latvia DB2014 Latvia DB2013 DB2014 Time (days) 469 469 410 425 375 300 280 685 Singapore (150) Cost (% of claim) 23.1 23.1 23.3 21.9 13.3 23.6 9.9 19.0 Bhutan (0.1) Procedures (number) 27 27 35 35 33 32 34 33 Singapore (21)* Resolving Insolvency 43 46 10 66 3 44 2 37 Japan (1) (rank) Time (years) 1.5 1.5 1.0 3.0 0.9 1.9 0.9 3.0 Ireland (0.4) Cost (% of estate) 10 10 4 9 4 7 1 15 Norway (1) Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 going concern) Recovery rate (cents on 48.4 47.8 87.0 38.9 90.2 48.4 91.3 54.8 Japan (92.8) the dollar) Note: DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB2013 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. For more information on “no practice” marks, see the data notes. * Two or more economies share the top ranking on this indicator. A number shown in place of an economy’s name indicates the number of economies that share the top ranking on the indicator. For a list of these economies, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 14 STARTING A BUSINESS Formal registration of companies has many WHAT THE STARTING A BUSINESS immediate benefits for the companies and for business owners and employees. Legal entities can INDICATORS MEASURE outlive their founders. Resources are pooled as several shareholders join forces to start a company. Procedures to legally start and operate a Formally registered companies have access to company (number) services and institutions from courts to banks as Preregistration (for example, name well as to new markets. And their employees can verification or reservation, notarization) benefit from protections provided by the law. An additional benefit comes with limited liability Registration in the economy’s largest companies. These limit the financial liability of business city company owners to their investments, so personal Postregistration (for example, social security assets of the owners are not put at risk. Where registration, company seal) governments make registration easy, more entrepreneurs start businesses in the formal sector, Time required to complete each procedure creating more good jobs and generating more (calendar days) revenue for the government. Does not include time spent gathering What do the indicators cover? information Doing Business measures the ease of starting a Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 business in an economy by recording all procedures cannot start on the same day). procedures officially required or commonly done in Procedures that can be fully completed practice by an entrepreneur to start up and online are an exception to this rule. formally operate an industrial or commercial Procedure completed once final document is business—as well as the time and cost required to received complete these procedures. It also records the paid-in minimum capital that companies must No prior contact with officials deposit before registration (or within 3 months). Cost required to complete each procedure The ranking on the ease of starting a business is (% of income per capita) the simple average of the percentile rankings on the 4 component indicators: procedures, time, cost Official costs only, no bribes and paid-in minimum capital requirement. No professional fees unless services required To make the data comparable across economies, by law Doing Business uses several assumptions about the Paid-in minimum capital (% of income business and the procedures. It assumes that all per capita) information is readily available to the entrepreneur and that there has been no prior contact with Deposited in a bank or with a notary before officials. It also assumes that the entrepreneur will registration (or within 3 months) pay no bribes. And it assumes that the business:  Has a start-up capital of 10 times income per  Is a limited liability company, located in the capita. largest business city and is 100% domestically  Has a turnover of at least 100 times income per owned. capita.  Has between 10 and 50 employees.  Does not qualify for any special benefits.  Conducts general commercial or industrial  Does not own real estate. activities. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 15 STARTING A BUSINESS Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to start a business in Latvia? days, costs 1.9% of income per capita and requires According to data collected by Doing Business, starting paid-in minimum capital of 0.0% of income per capita a business there requires 4 procedures, takes 12.5 (figure 2.1). Figure 2.1 What it takes to start a business in Latvia Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita): 0.0 Note: Time shown in the figure above may not reflect simultaneity of procedures. Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For more information on the methodology of the starting a business indicators, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary at the end of this chapter. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 16 STARTING A BUSINESS Globally, Latvia stands at 57 in the ranking of 189 regional average ranking provide other useful economies on the ease of starting a business (figure information for assessing how easy it is for an 2.2). The rankings for comparator economies and the entrepreneur in Latvia to start a business. Figure 2.2 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of starting a business Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 17 STARTING A BUSINESS What are the changes over time? The benchmarks provided by the economies that over 2.3) can help show what is possible in making it easier time have had the best performance regionally or to start a business. And changes in regional averages globally on the procedures, time, cost or paid-in can show where Latvia is keeping up—and where it is minimum capital required to start a business (figure falling behind. Figure 2.3 Has starting a business become easier over time? Procedures (number) Time (days) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 18 STARTING A BUSINESS Cost (% of income per capita) Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) Note: Ninety economies globally have no paid-in minimum capital requirement. DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB2013 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 19 STARTING A BUSINESS Economies around the world have taken steps making greater firm satisfaction and savings and more it easier to start a business—streamlining procedures registered businesses, financial resources and job by setting up a one-stop shop, making procedures opportunities. simpler or faster by introducing technology and What business registration reforms has Doing Business reducing or eliminating minimum capital requirements. recorded in Latvia (table 2.1)? Many have undertaken business registration reforms in stages—and they often are part of a larger regulatory reform program. Among the benefits have been Table 2.1 How has Latvia made starting a business easier—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform DB2009 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2010 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2011 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia made starting a business easier by reducing the DB2012 minimum capital requirement and introducing a common application for value added tax and company registration. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia made starting a business easier by making it possible to DB2014 file the applications for company registration and value added tax registration simultaneously at the commercial registry. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2005), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 20 STARTING A BUSINESS What are the details? Underlying the indicators shown in this chapter for STANDARDIZED COMPANY Latvia is a set of specific procedures—the bureaucratic and legal steps that an entrepreneur must complete to incorporate and register a new City: Riga firm. These are identified by Doing Business through collaboration with relevant local Legal Form: Sabiedriba ar ierobe otu atbildibu professionals and the study of laws, regulations and (SIA) publicly available information on business entry in Paid in Minimum Capital Requirement: LVL 1 that economy. Following is a detailed summary of those procedures, along with the associated time Start-up Capital: 10 times GNI per capita and cost. These procedures are those that apply to a company matching the standard assumptions (the “standardized company”) used by Doing Business in collecting the data (see the section in this chapter on what the indicators measure). Summary of procedures for starting a business in Latvia—and the time and cost Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete Complete signatories’ cards and companies deeds, certify cards by a notary The application to the Commercial Register and the consents for appointment to the Management Board must be notarized by a notary public. Officials of the Companies Registry may verify the signature in case of a sole founder on the company's registration application and the sample signatures of management board members. The fee for the verification of one signature by the official of the Company Register is LVL 2.75. If three and more signatures must be verified in the framework of one 1 day LVL 18 1 company, then the fee for verification of each signature is LVL 2. Commercial Code states (section 9) - "Documents shall be submitted in printed form or in electronic form. If an application is submitted in electronic form, the special online form available via the Internet home page of the Commercial Register Office shall be used. If the application has been submitted in electronic form and signed with secure electronic signature, the capacity to act of this person shall be checked by the official of the Commercial Register Office." Open a bank account and get a receipt of reference from the bank Most banks levy a small fee to open a bank account and obtaining a 1 day LVL 5 2 deposit notice. The fee is generally about LVL 5, depending on the bank. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 21 Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete Amendments in Commercial Code (2010): Commercial Code states that "The equity capital of a company may be less than the minimum amount of the equity capital specified in Commercial Law." Commercial Code also states, that "founders don't have to open a bank account in the name of the company to be founded, organize the deposit of money into it and receive a notice from the bank, addressed to the Commercial Register Office, which confirms the amount of equity capital paid-up to founding, if such limited liability company is being founded, which equity capital is less them 2000 LVL. In such case the founders shall confirm (in application) the payment of the equity capital." However, in practice most founders still open a company bank account as part of the registration process. Register at the Commercial Registry and register with State Revenue Service (tax authority) for VAT The following company incorporation documents must be submitted to the Company Register: • Registration application, on a special form provided by the Registry (includes information on Board members and company share capital) signed in front of a notary public • Company charter • Foundation agreement (Resolution on foundation in case of one founder) • Proof of investment • Consent to the election to the Supervisory Board (if existence of Supervisory Board is provided in company charter) • Consent to the election to the Management Board • Notice of the Management Board on legal address of the Company • Power of Attorney in case any of the founders is signing the Registration application via authorized person • Document certifying payment of state duty 10 days LVL 124 3 • Document certifying payment of the publication fee Registration application can also be filed electronically if signed by secure electronic signature. Consent to election to the position of the Management Board member needs to be signed by secure electronic signature or the signature needs to be approved by the notary public or the official of the Commercial Registry. Alternatively the consent can be inserted in the registration application, however the signature of the Management Board member needs to be approved as described above. Consent of the owner of the real estate regarding registering the registered address of the company to be established also needs to be submitted to the Commercial Registry. In accordance with the amendments to the Annual Reports Law on 22.11.2006 the annual report of the company should be reviewed by the sworn auditor and the appointment of the sworn auditor is needed only if two of the following three criteria are exceeded: 1) the sum of the balance sheet amounts to LVL 250,000; 2) the net turnover amounts to LVL 500,000; Doing Business 2014 Latvia 22 Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete 3) average number of the employees during the financial year amounts to 25. On 01.01.2013 the new VAT Law came into force. Moreover, pursuant to the new Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers on application of the regulations of the VAT law and separate requirements for payment and administration of VAT of 03.01.2013 No 17 provide that simultaneously with filing the registration application to the Commercial Registry the application for registration with VAT payers' register can be filed at the Commercial Registry. In this case the Commercial Registry will send the respective application to the State Revenue Service when the company is registered in the commercial register. The application to the State Revenue Service can be filed electronically if signed by secure electronic signature. Register employees for mandatory state social insurance contribution with the State Revenue Service Regulation No 827 On Registration of Persons Performing Mandatory State Social Insurance Contributions and Personal Income Tax of the Cabinet of Ministers of Republic of Latvia (dated 7 September 2010) has been adopted and states that the following persons must register with the territorial agency of the State Revenue Service: employers, self- employed person, domestic employees working for foreign employers, and foreign employees working for foreign employers. There have been amendments made to the Regulation No 827 dated 09.10.2012 and 19.02.2013 providing that the employer registers the Less than one day 4 no charge employee with the State Revenue Service no later than one day before (online procedure) the person starts the work if the application has been filed in paper format or not later than one hour before the person starts work if the application has been filed via electronic declaring system. Furthermore, the person can be registered at any customer service center of the State Revenue Service instead of the respective territorial department of the State Revenue Service. Also, as of 01.07.2013 the employee's profession (position in the company, specialty) in accordance with the Profession classification needs to be notified to the State Revenue Service at the registration process. Procedure can be done online * Takes place simultaneously with another procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 23 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Regulation of construction is critical to protect the WHAT THE DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION public. But it needs to be efficient, to avoid PERMITS INDICATORS MEASURE excessive constraints on a sector that plays an important part in every economy. Where complying with building regulations is excessively costly in Procedures to legally build a warehouse time and money, many builders opt out. They may (number) pay bribes to pass inspections or simply build Submitting all relevant documents and illegally, leading to hazardous construction that obtaining all necessary clearances, licenses, puts public safety at risk. Where compliance is permits and certificates simple, straightforward and inexpensive, everyone Submitting all required notifications and is better off. receiving all necessary inspections What do the indicators cover? Obtaining utility connections for water, Doing Business records the procedures, time and sewerage and a land telephone line cost for a business in the construction industry to Registering the warehouse after its obtain all the necessary approvals to build a completion (if required for use as collateral or warehouse in the economy’s largest business city, for transfer of the warehouse) connect it to basic utilities and register the Time required to complete each procedure property so that it can be used as collateral or (calendar days) transferred to another entity. Does not include time spent gathering The ranking on the ease of dealing with information construction permits is the simple average of the Each procedure starts on a separate day. percentile rankings on its component indicators: Procedures that can be fully completed online procedures, time and cost. are an exception to this rule. To make the data comparable across economies, Procedure considered completed once final Doing Business uses several assumptions about the document is received business and the warehouse, including the utility connections. No prior contact with officials The business: Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per capita)  Is a limited liability company operating in Official costs only, no bribes the construction business and located in the largest business city.  Will be connected to water, sewerage (sewage system, septic tank or their  Is domestically owned and operated. equivalent) and a fixed telephone line. The  Has 60 builders and other employees. connection to each utility network will be 10 The warehouse: meters (32 feet, 10 inches) long.  Is a new construction (there was no  Will be used for general storage, such as of previous construction on the land). books or stationery (not for goods requiring special conditions).  Has complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a licensed architect or  Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all engineer. delays due to administrative and regulatory requirements). Doing Business 2014 Latvia 24 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to comply with the formalities to permits there requires 18 procedures, takes 152.0 days build a warehouse in Latvia? According to data and costs 15.4% of income per capita (figure 3.1). collected by Doing Business, dealing with construction Figure 3.1 What it takes to comply with formalities to build a warehouse in Latvia Note: Time shown in the figure above may not reflect simultaneity of procedures. Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For more information on the methodology of the dealing with construction permits indicators, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary at the end of this chapter. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 25 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Globally, Latvia stands at 79 in the ranking of 189 economies and the regional average ranking provide economies on the ease of dealing with construction other useful information for assessing how easy it is for permits (figure 3.2). The rankings for comparator an entrepreneur in Latvia to legally build a warehouse. Figure 3.2 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of dealing with construction permits Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 26 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS What are the changes over time? The benchmarks provided by the economies that over what is possible in making it easier to deal with time have had the best performance regionally or construction permits. And changes in regional globally on the procedures, time or cost required to averages can show where Latvia is keeping up—and deal with construction permits (figure 3.3) help show where it is falling behind. Figure 3.3 Has dealing with construction permits become easier over time? Procedures (number) Time (days) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 27 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Cost (% of income per capita) Note: DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB201 3 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. For more information on “no practice” marks, see the data notes. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 28 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Smart regulation ensures that standards are met while building safety while keeping compliance costs making compliance easy and accessible to all. reasonable, governments around the world have Coherent and transparent rules, efficient processes and worked on consolidating permitting requirements. adequate allocation of resources are especially What construction permitting reforms has Doing important in sectors where safety is at stake. Business recorded in Latvia (table 3.1)? Construction is one of them. In an effort to ensure Table 3.1 How has Latvia made dealing with construction permits easier—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform DB2009 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2010 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2011 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2012 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia made dealing with construction permits easier by introducing new time limits for issuing a building permit and DB2014 by eliminating the Public Health Agency’s role in approving building permits and conducting inspections. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2006), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 29 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS What are the details? The indicators reported here for Latvia are based BUILDING A WAREHOUSE on a set of specific procedures—the steps that a company must complete to legally build a warehouse—identified by Doing Business through City : Riga information collected from experts in construction licensing, including architects, civil engineers, Estimated construction lawyers, construction firms, utility LVL 715,330 Warehouse Value : service providers and public officials who deal with building regulations. These procedures are those The procedures, along with the associated time and that apply to a company and structure matching cost, are summarized below. the standard assumptions used by Doing Business in collecting the data (see the section in this chapter on what the indicators cover). Summary of procedures for dealing with construction permits in Latvia —and the time and cost Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete Request architectural planning conditions The receipt of architectural-planning conditions from the Municipal Building Board is a prerequisite for the commencement of building activities, such as architectural design. The architectural-planning conditions contain the main requirements for the intended building and lists agencies and institutions from which additional technical 1 requirements must be obtained. The request form for the architectural- 14 days LVL 60 planning conditions must contain a brief description of the intended project. Effective November 14, 2006, the Riga City Council adopted new regulations regarding the municipality's paid services. The cost associated with obtaining architectural-planning conditions is between LVL 13.46 and LVL 106.20; the time frame is 30 working days. Obtain technical requirements from the Latvian environment agency 2 Beginning January 2008 the technical requirements from the Latvia 28 days no charge Environment Agency are issued free of charge. * Obtain technical requirements from water supply and sewerage company 3 21 days no charge Doing Business 2014 Latvia 30 Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete * Obtain technical requirements from telephone company 4 21 days no charge Obtain design clearance from the various agencies that issue technical requirements Design clearances are organized in a unified session with the engineering council and completed in one session if the project meets 7 days no charge 5 the council’s requirements. The project design clearances are necessary only if required in the architectural planning conditions. In most cases, however, they are required. * Obtain design clearance from water and sewage company The unified session does not take place in practice. The applicant must 7 days no charge 6 obtain approval from each agency separately. * Obtain design clearance from telephone company The unified session does not take place in practice. The applicant must 7 days no charge 7 obtain approval from each agency separately. * Obtain design clearance from fire safety and rescue services The unified session does not take place in practice. The applicant must 7 days no charge 8 obtain approval from each agency separately. Obtain final approval of the design The final approval of the design is granted by the Municipal Building Board after clearance with all relevant agencies and a general inspection to verify compliance with laws and regulations. Approval of the design does not release the architect from liability. The approved design is valid for 2 years. If upon expiration the building permit has not been received, the design must be re-cleared and re-approved. 21 days no charge 9 A public body in Latvia must deliver a decision within a maximum of 90 days in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Law. In case of repeated approval (after making the necessary corrections indicated by the building authority), the cost of the procedure is LVL 59.00. Obtain building permit The building permit is issued by the Municipal Building Board. Effective 7 days LVL 1,000 10 November 14, 2006, the Riga City Council adopted new regulations regarding the municipality's paid services. The cost associated with obtaining a building permit is between LVL 800.00 and LVL 1,200.00. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 31 Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete Obtain water and sewerage connection According to the Construction Regulations, a written application should be submitted to the relevant water and sewerage company (in Riga, the 11 company is Riga Water Ltd.). The documents confirming the ownership 20 days LVL 26 should be attached, as well as the topographical plan on a scale of 1:500 with the drawn-in underground communications. * Request telephone line connection The telephone line connection is not a prerequisite for the final handover of the building; therefore, it may be obtained at any time 12 during or after construction. The indicated cost does not include the 10 days LVL 35 cost of building the new telephone line utilities, which depend on the circumstances and may occasionally be partly financed by the client. * Receive inspection by environment agency 13 It takes about 10 working days until the inspector comes to the site. 1 day no charge * Receive inspection by fire safety and rescue department 14 It takes about 10 working days until the inspector comes to the site. 1 day no charge Receive on-site inspection by the state acceptance commission and issuance of final handover certificate Use of the building may begin only after the final handover. The State 15 Handover Commission is formed by the representatives of the State 5 days no charge Building Inspection, the Municipality Building Board, the architect of the project, and owner of the project. Obtain measurements from special state institution Before placing the newly built or renovated building into operation, a special state institution takes the measurements of the building and 16 draws the plans of each floor. This is done within 27 days (in cases with 27 days LVL 45 very complicated buildings, this could take longer), and the costs are calculated according to the technical parameters of the building. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 32 Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete * Receive inspection from special commission After the measurements are obtained, a special commission approves 1 day no charge 17 the construction. Register the building into the land book After the approval of the building by a special commission, the building can be registered in the land book. If the owner of the building is the same as the owner of the land, the building is registered in the same file as the land and it is deemed an undivided property. If the owners are different for the building, a separate and independent file is opened 20 days LVL 18 18 and the building is considered a separate object of ownership only while the lease is in force. After that, the building is either removed or becomes the property of the land owner. The cost to complete the procedure is LVL 15.00 for the registration into the land book and LVL 3.00 for the issuance of the land book certificate. * Takes place simultaneously with another procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 33 GETTING ELECTRICITY Access to reliable and affordable electricity is vital WHAT THE GETTING ELECTRICITY for businesses. To counter weak electricity supply, many firms in developing economies have to rely INDICATORS MEASURE on self-supply, often at a prohibitively high cost. Whether electricity is reliably available or not, the Procedures to obtain an electricity first step for a customer is always to gain access by connection (number) obtaining a connection. Submitting all relevant documents and What do the indicators cover? obtaining all necessary clearances and permits Doing Business records all procedures required for Completing all required notifications and a local business to obtain a permanent electricity receiving all necessary inspections connection and supply for a standardized warehouse, as well as the time and cost to Obtaining external installation works and complete them. These procedures include possibly purchasing material for these works applications and contracts with electricity utilities, Concluding any necessary supply contract and clearances from other agencies and the external obtaining final supply and final connection works. The ranking on the ease of getting electricity is the simple average of Time required to complete each procedure the percentile rankings on its component (calendar days) indicators: procedures, time and cost. To make the Is at least 1 calendar day data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used. Each procedure starts on a separate day The warehouse: Does not include time spent gathering information  Is located in the economy’s largest business city, in an area where other Reflects the time spent in practice, with little warehouses are located. follow-up and no prior contact with officials  Is not in a special economic zone where Cost required to complete each procedure the connection would be eligible for (% of income per capita) subsidization or faster service. Official costs only, no bribes  Has road access. The connection works Excludes value added tax involve the crossing of a road or roads but are carried out on public land.  Is to either the low-voltage or the medium-  Is a new construction being connected to voltage distribution network and either overhead electricity for the first time. or underground, whichever is more common in the economy and area where the warehouse is  Has 2 stories, both above ground, with a located. The length of any connection in the total surface of about 1,300.6 square customer’s private domain is negligible. meters (14,000 square feet), and is built on a plot of 929 square meters (10,000 square  Requires crossing of a 10-meter road but all the feet). works are carried out in a public land, so there is no crossing into other people's private property. The electricity connection:  Involves installing one electricity meter. The  Is 150 meters long and is a 3-phase, 4-wire Y, monthly electricity consumption will be 0.07 140-kilovolt-ampere (kVA) (subscribed gigawatt-hour (GWh). The internal electrical capacity) connection. wiring has been completed. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 34 GETTING ELECTRICITY Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to obtain a new electricity procedures, takes 108 days and costs 326.1% of connection in Latvia? According to data collected by income per capita (figure 4.1). Doing Business, getting electricity there requires 5 Figure 4.1 What it takes to obtain an electricity connection in Latvia Note: Time shown in the figure above may not reflect simultaneity of procedures. For more information on the methodology of the getting electricity indicators, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary at the end of this chapter. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 35 GETTING ELECTRICITY Globally, Latvia stands at 83 in the ranking of 189 regional average ranking provide another perspective economies on the ease of getting electricity (figure in assessing how easy it is for an entrepreneur in Latvia 4.2). The rankings for comparator economies and the to connect a warehouse to electricity. Figure 4.2 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of getting electricity Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 36 GETTING ELECTRICITY Even more helpful than rankings on the ease of getting performers on these indicators may provide useful electricity may be the indicators underlying those benchmarks. rankings (table 4.1). And regional and global best Table 4.1 The ease of getting electricity in Latvia Best performer in Best performer Indicator Latvia DB2014 Latvia DB2013 Europe & Central globally DB2014 Asia DB2014 Rank 83 89 San Marino (10) Iceland (1) Procedures (number) 5 5 San Marino (3) 10 Economies* (3) Time (days) 108 108 San Marino (45) Germany (17) Cost (% of income per capita) 326.1 389.1 Lithuania (48.1) Japan (0.0) Note: DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB2013 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. * Two or more economies share the top ranking on this indicator. For a list of these economies, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 37 GETTING ELECTRICITY Obtaining an electricity connection is essential to safety in the connection process while keeping enable a business to conduct its most basic operations. connection costs reasonable, governments around the In many economies the connection process is world have worked to consolidate requirements for complicated by the multiple laws and regulations obtaining an electricity connection. What reforms in involved—covering service quality, general safety, getting electricity has Doing Business recorded in technical standards, procurement practices and Latvia (table 4.2)? internal wiring installations. In an effort to ensure Table 4.2 How has Latvia made getting electricity easier—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform Latvia made getting electricity faster by introducing a DB2012 simplified process for approval of external connection designs. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2014 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 38 GETTING ELECTRICITY What are the details? The indicators reported here for Latvia are based on a OBTAINING AN ELECTRICITY CONNECTION set of specific procedures—the steps that an entrepreneur must complete to get a warehouse connected to electricity by the local distribution City: Riga utility—identified by Doing Business. Data are collected from the distribution utility, then completed and Name of Utility: Sadales Tikls verified by electricity regulatory agencies and independent professionals such as electrical engineers, The procedures are those that apply to a warehouse electrical contractors and construction companies. The and electricity connection matching the standard electricity distribution utility surveyed is the one assumptions used by Doing Business in collecting the serving the area (or areas) in which warehouses are data (see the section in this chapter on what the located. If there is a choice of distribution utilities, the indicators cover). The procedures, along with the one serving the largest number of customers is associated time and cost, are summarized below. selected. Summary of procedures for getting electricity in Latvia—and the time and cost Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete Submit application at Sadales Tikls and await estimate and technical conditions A filled in form “Application for Connection to Electricity Network” has to be submitted at any Sadales tikls AS Customer Service Centre. Any Customer Service Centre provides detailed information on the procedure of the document submission and getting a new connection. In order to speed up the connection procedure the application may be sent by mail. The application form and the attached Agreement on the Procedure of Establishing Connection with Electric Facilities and Construction Design are also available electronically on Sadales tikls AS homepage at www.st.latvenergo.lv and can be printed out and filled in. The application form contains information on the additional documents to be submitted together with the form. A document confirming the right of the person 14 calendar days no charge 1 to sign the application; a copy of the Registration Certificate; a copy of the Tax payer Certificate; a copy of location map (land boundary map or location layout); a copy of the document confirming the title to real property or the rights to use the respective property; a copy of construction plan approved by Construction Board; and other documents as the case may be need to be attached to the application. An external inspection is necessary to prepare an estimate, however no one from the customer's party is usually present. After the application has been registered according to the "Regulations On System Connection for Electricity System Participants", Sadales tīkls AS estimates the potential costs of establishing the connection and informs the customer. Sadales tīkls AS drafts the technical regulations for the installation of the electrical installations. There is no internal inspection, however the customer submits a certificate on the internal wiring to the Doing Business 2014 Latvia 39 Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete utility before the final connection. Hire electrical design firm and obtain topography of land and design of connection and get design approved by the utility Sadales Tikls and other people/agencies The customer needs to hire an electrical design firm that prepares the design of the external connection works (electrical installation designer, certified expert-electrician). The electrical design firm is getting the design approved by the utility and by other stakeholders, for example the people living in the area of the connection and all other parties that 2 are affected by the connection. This approval process is done entirely by 60 calendar days LVL 1,000.0 the design firm as it involves technical knowledge. The customer is not involved in the approval process. In order to have the design approved, the customer needs to have a topographic assessment of the area which is obtained by the electrical design firm. The design of the connection and the approval go hand in hand with the utility, it is happening at the same time, as the utility is being consulted during the process of the design. Await completion of external construction works by the utility's subcontractor After the connection agreement has been concluded and the connection payment made, Sadales tīkls AS organizes the connection construction works up to the borders of the belonging of the customer's electrical installation. The utility hires an electrical contractor. In order to do so, the utility is organizing a public tender to award the external connection 3 works to a private firm. The utility usually has all material on stock and 30 calendar days LVL 24,000.0 gives the material to the firm that does the connection works. The utility can have material for a better price, as they buy the material in large quantities and keep stock for about a year. The customer is paying the cost for the works and the material directly to the utility. Once the connection works are finished, the electrical contractor makes some tests of the connection and sends the results to the utility for approval. Sadales Tikls conducts final inspection of the connection constructed and installs and seals the meter After completing external connection works, Sadales tīkls AS sends the 4 supply contract and the Act on the user's electrical installation 3 calendar days no charge construction to the customer. The customer confirms that the internal wiring of the warehouse conforms with existing technical standards and, if he agrees with the terms of the contract, signs and sends both documents to the Sadales tīkls AS. After a few days, the controlling Doing Business 2014 Latvia 40 Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete engineer/electrician from Sadales tīkls AS inspects the constructed electrical network connection, installs the meter and seals the meter chains and connects the customer’s electrical installation to the electrical network. Customer signs contract on electricity supply with Sadales Tikls AS and an agreement on the use of the distribution network After the customer's electrical installation is connected to the electrical network, the customer has to sign a contract of electricity supply with 1 calendar day no charge 5 Sadales tikls. Smaller companies (turnover <7 million Lats and <50 employees) have to sign one agreement with Sadales tikls AS for distribution services and the supply of electricity. * Takes place simultaneously with another procedure. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 41 REGISTERING PROPERTY Ensuring formal property rights is fundamental. WHAT THE REGISTERING PROPERTY Effective administration of land is part of that. If INDICATORS MEASURE formal property transfer is too costly or complicated, formal titles might go informal again. And where property is informal or poorly Procedures to legally transfer title on administered, it has little chance of being immovable property (number) accepted as collateral for loans—limiting access to Preregistration (for example, checking for liens, finance. notarizing sales agreement, paying property transfer taxes) What do the indicators cover? Registration in the economy’s largest business Doing Business records the full sequence of city procedures necessary for a business to purchase property from another business and transfer the Postregistration (for example, filing title with the municipality) property title to the buyer’s name. The transaction is considered complete when it is opposable to Time required to complete each procedure third parties and when the buyer can use the (calendar days) property, use it as collateral for a bank loan or Does not include time spent gathering resell it. The ranking on the ease of registering information property is the simple average of the percentile rankings on its component indicators: procedures, Each procedure starts on a separate day. time and cost. Procedures that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule. To make the data comparable across economies, Procedure considered completed once final several assumptions about the parties to the document is received transaction, the property and the procedures are used. No prior contact with officials The parties (buyer and seller): Cost required to complete each procedure (% of property value)  Are limited liability companies, 100% domestically and privately owned. Official costs only, no bribes  Are located in the economy’s largest No value added or capital gains taxes included business city. and no rezoning is required.  Have 50 employees each, all of whom are  Has no mortgages attached and has been nationals. under the same ownership for the past 10  Perform general commercial activities. years. The property (fully owned by the seller):  Consists of 557.4 square meters (6,000 square feet) of land and a 10-year-old, 2-story  Has a value of 50 times income per capita. warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 The sale price equals the value. square feet). The warehouse is in good  Is registered in the land registry or cada- condition and complies with all safety stre, or both, and is free of title disputes. standards, building codes and legal requirements. There is no heating system. The  Is located in a periurban commercial zone, property will be transferred in its entirety. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 42 REGISTERING PROPERTY Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to complete a property transfer in 18.0 days and costs 2.0% of the property value (figure Latvia? According to data collected by Doing Business, 5.1). registering property there requires 5 procedures, takes Figure 5.1 What it takes to register property in Latvia Note: Time shown in the figure above may not reflect simultaneity of procedures. Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For more information on the methodology of the registering property indicators, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary at the end of this chapter. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 43 REGISTERING PROPERTY Globally, Latvia stands at 33 in the ranking of 189 regional average ranking provide other useful economies on the ease of registering property (figure information for assessing how easy it is for an 5.2). The rankings for comparator economies and the entrepreneur in Latvia to transfer property. Figure 5.2 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of registering property Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 44 REGISTERING PROPERTY What are the changes over time? The benchmarks provided by the economies that over what is possible in making it easier to register time have had the best performance regionally or property. And changes in regional averages can show globally on the procedures, time or cost required to where Latvia is keeping up—and where it is falling complete a property transfer (figure 5.3) help show behind. Figure 5.3 Has registering property become easier over time? Procedures (number) Time (days) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 45 REGISTERING PROPERTY Cost (% of property value) Note: DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB2013 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. For more information on “no practice” marks, see the data notes. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 46 REGISTERING PROPERTY Economies worldwide have been making it easier for have cut the time required substantially—enabling entrepreneurs to register and transfer property—such buyers to use or mortgage their property earlier. What as by computerizing land registries, introducing time property registration reforms has Doing Business limits for procedures and setting low fixed fees. Many recorded in Latvia (table 5.1)? Table 5.1 How has Latvia made registering property easier—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform The State Land Service introduced an online database allowing the employees of the registry to check the cadastral value of DB2009 the real estate. This resulted in the removal of 1 procedure, bringing the total number to 7, and the total time from 54 to 50 DB2010 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2011 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia made transferring property easier by allowing electronic access to municipal tax databases that show the tax status of DB2012 property, eliminating the requirement to obtain this information in paper format. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2014 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2005), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 47 REGISTERING PROPERTY What are the details? The indicators reported here are based on a set of STANDARD PROPERTY TRANSFER specific procedures—the steps that a buyer and seller must complete to transfer the property to the buyer’s name—identified by Doing Business through information collected from local property City: Riga lawyers, notaries and property registries. These procedures are those that apply to a transaction Property Value: LVL 383,273 matching the standard assumptions used by Doing Business in collecting the data (see the section in The procedures, along with the associated time and this chapter on what the indicators cover). cost, are summarized below. Summary of procedures for registering property in Latvia—and the time and cost Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete Verification of a title The buyer should request from the Land Register website an updated extract from the relevant folio of the Land Registry, which allows the buyer to verify the title of the real estate and the legal rights attached to it. Any credit or debit card holder can obtain information on any real estate registered in the Land Register. To receive an uncertified 1 computer printout of the relevant extract from Land Registry the Buyer 1 day LVL 2 must submit an application to Land Registry together with document confirming payment of the service fee in amount of LVL 2,00. For written references, certified extracts, true copies and computer printouts from a Land Register division – LVL 5,00 per document. The official website of the Land Registry is http://www.zemesgramata.lv Municipality’s first refusal rights Parties submit the signed real estate sales agreement to the municipality for a decision on its first refusal rights. If the municipality does not need the property for municipal functions set by law, the municipality must issue a statement waiving the right of first refusal within 5 business days from receiving the purchase agreement or a copy. When it is necessary for the municipality to perform its self-government functions on the real 5 caledar days no cost 2 estate, it must prepare a statement waiving the right of first refusal within 20 days from receiving the purchase agreement or a copy. The buyer can register title to the real estate with the Land Registry without waiting for expiry of the entire term as set out above. However, if the municipality fails to issue a statement waiving the right of first refusal within 20 working days, the buyer can only register title with the Land Registry after 27 days after the municipality received the purchase Doing Business 2014 Latvia 48 Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete agreement. Statement on the buyer’s shareholders The board of the buyer shall issue a statement on the nationality of the 1 day no cost 3 buyer’s shareholders. LVL 56.5 which comprises of: - certification of the signature of both parties (two persons), 13,20 LVL each; - information about the companies - 5,00 Notarization of the sale-purchase agreement each; - information from Parties sign and the notary attests the application for the registration of the buyer’s title with the land registry or Land Book. The registration the Citizen's application should contain an authorization of the person that is entitled register - 3,80 LVL to perform the registration procedures. If the authorization is not for each person; 4 incorporated in the registration application, parties can: 1 day - information from 1) issue a notarized power of attorney to this effect, or the Invalid 2) incorporate the authorization in the sales agreement, in which case documents' the sales agreement must be attested by a notary, or register - 1 LVL for 3) authorize a notary to process the registration of title. each person; - information from the Land Book register - 5,00 LVL; - state fee - 0,50 LVL. The total sum is being taxed with the VAT of 21% (not included in estimates. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 49 Time to No. Procedure Cost to complete complete Registration of the buyer’s title Parties submit the documents obtained in the previous procedures to the Land Registry Unit of the Land Book. After reviewing all submitted LVL 10 (processing documents a Land Book judge adopts a decision on registration of fee for the change of ownership rights. A true copy of a decision shall be issued, registration of which a judge and a secretary of a Land Register office shall certify with title) their signatures. Entry shall be made in the Land Register not later than LVL 5 (processing the next working day after a decision has been taken, and they shall be fee for the receipt signed by a judge and a secretary of a Land Register office on the same of the registration day. certificate) 2% of the highest 5 Following documents must be provided together with the registration 10 days of either the aplication: purchase price or • Real estate sales agreement signed by parties the cadastral value • Statement of the payment of real estate tax (Obtained in Procedure 1) • Municipality’s approval of the transfer (Obtained in Procedure 2) of the real estate, • Notarized application for the registration (obtained in Procedure 4) with a maximum • Statement on the shareholders of the buyer (obtained in Procedure 3) of LVL 30,000 • Receipt of payment of stamp duty and registration fee (The payment (Stamp duty for for registration and the stamp duty can be paid at POS stations in the the registration of Land Registry. Receipt of payment should be submitted before the a title) registration of the title) * Takes place simultaneously with another procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 50 GETTING CREDIT Two types of frameworks can facilitate access to WHAT THE GETTING CREDIT INDICATORS credit and improve its allocation: credit information MEASURE systems and borrowers and lenders in collateral and bankruptcy laws. Credit information systems enable lenders’ rights to view a potential borrower’s Strength of legal rights index (0–10) financial history (positive or negative)—valuable Rights of borrowers and lenders through information to consider when assessing risk. And collateral laws they permit borrowers to establish a good credit Protection of secured creditors’ rights through history that will allow easier access to credit. Sound bankruptcy laws collateral laws enable businesses to use their assets, especially movable property, as security to generate Depth of credit information index (0–6) capital—while strong creditors’ rights have been Scope and accessibility of credit information associated with higher ratios of private sector credit distributed by public credit registries and to GDP. private credit bureaus What do the indicators cover? Public credit registry coverage (% of adults) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit Number of individuals and firms listed in information and the legal rights of borrowers and public credit registry as percentage of adult lenders with respect to secured transactions population through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit Private credit bureau coverage (% of adults) information index measures rules and practices Number of individuals and firms listed in affecting the coverage, scope and accessibility of largest private credit bureau as percentage of credit information available through a public credit adult population registry or a private credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures whether certain features that facilitate lending exist within the applicable collateral and bankruptcy laws. Doing Business uses case scenarios to determine the scope of the  Has up to 100 employees. secured transactions system, involving a secured  Is 100% domestically owned, as is the lender. borrower and a secured lender and examining legal The ranking on the ease of getting credit is based on restrictions on the use of movable collateral. These the percentile rankings on the sum of its component scenarios assume that the borrower: indicators: the depth of credit information index and  Is a private, incorporated, limited liability the strength of legal rights index. company.  Has its headquarters and only base of operations in the largest business city. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 51 GETTING CREDIT Where does the economy stand today? How well do the credit information system and Globally, Latvia stands at 3 in the ranking of 189 collateral and bankruptcy laws in Latvia facilitate economies on the ease of getting credit (figure 6.1). access to credit? The economy has a score of 5 on the The rankings for comparator economies and the depth of credit information index and a score of 10 on regional average ranking provide other useful the strength of legal rights index (see the summary of information for assessing how well regulations and scoring at the end of this chapter for details). Higher institutions in Latvia support lending and borrowing. scores indicate more credit information and stronger legal rights for borrowers and lenders. Figure 6.1 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of getting credit Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 52 GETTING CREDIT What are the changes over time? While the most recent Doing Business data reflect how institutions and regulations have been strengthened — well the credit information system and collateral and and where they have not (table 6.1). That can help bankruptcy laws in Latvia support lending and identify where the potential for improvement is borrowing today, data over time can help show where greatest. Table 6.1 The ease of getting credit in Latvia over time By Doing Business report year Indicator DB2005 DB2006 DB2007 DB2008 DB2009 DB2010 DB2011 DB2012 DB2013 DB2014 Rank .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 3 Strength of legal rights 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 index (0-10) Depth of credit 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 information index (0-6) Public registry coverage 0.6 1.1 1.9 2.6 3.5 46.5 57.2 59.7 63.8 73.6 (% of adults) Private bureau 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 coverage (% of adults) Note: n.a. = not applicable (the economy was not included in Doing Business for that year). DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB2013 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 53 GETTING CREDIT One way to put an economy’s score on the getting shows the number of economies with this score in credit indicators into context is to see where the 2013 as well as the regional average score. Figure 6.3 economy stands in the distribution of scores across shows the same thing for the depth of credit economies. Figure 6.2 highlights the score on the information index. strength of legal rights index for Latvia in 2013 and Figure 6.2 How strong are legal rights for borrowers Figure 6.3 How much credit information is shared— and lenders? and how widely? Number of economies with each score on strength of legal Number of economies with each score on depth of credit rights index (0–10), 2013 information index (0–6), 2013 Note: Higher scores indicate that collateral and bankruptcy Note: Higher scores indicate the availability of more credit laws are better designed to facilitate access to credit. information, from either a credit registry or a credit bureau, Source: Doing Business database. to facilitate lending decisions. Regional averages for the depth of credit information index exclude economies with no credit registry or credit bureau. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 54 GETTING CREDIT When economies strengthen the legal rights of lenders credit information, they can increase entrepreneurs’ and borrowers under collateral and bankruptcy laws, access to credit. What credit reforms has Doing and increase the scope, coverage and accessibility of Business recorded in Latvia (table 6.2)? Table 6.2 How has Latvia made getting credit easier—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform DB2009 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia’s new public credit registry started sharing data on loans DB2010 thus improving access to credit information. DB2011 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2012 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia improved its credit information system by adopting a DB2014 new law regulating the public credit registry. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2005), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 55 GETTING CREDIT What are the details? The getting credit indicators reported here for Latvia The data on the legal rights of borrowers and lenders are based on detailed information collected in that are gathered through a survey of financial lawyers and economy. The data on credit information sharing are verified through analysis of laws and regulations as collected through a survey of a credit registry and/or well as public sources of information on collateral and credit bureau (if one exists). To construct the depth of bankruptcy laws. For the strength of legal rights index, credit information index, a score of 1 is assigned for a score of 1 is assigned for each of 8 aspects related to each of 6 features of the credit registry or credit legal rights in collateral law and 2 aspects in bureau (see summary of scoring below). bankruptcy law. Summary of scoring for the getting credit indicators in Latvia Europe & Central OECD high income Indicator Latvia Asia average average Strength of legal rights index (0-10) 10 7 7 Depth of credit information index (0-6) 5 5 5 Public registry coverage (% of adults) 73.6 33.9 42.9 Private bureau coverage (% of adults) 0.0 48.2 73.9 Note: In cases where an economy’s regional classification is “OECD high income,” regional averages above are only displayed once. Regional averages for the depth of credit information index exclude economies with no credit registry or credit bureau. Regional averages for the credit registry coverage exclude economies with no credit registry. Regional averages for the credit bureau coverage exclude economies with no credit bureau. Strength of legal rights index (0–10) Index score: 10 Can any business use movable assets as collateral while keeping possession of the assets; and Yes any financial institution accept such assets as collateral ? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of Yes movable assets, without requiring a specific description of collateral? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of Yes its assets, without requiring a specific description of collateral? May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and may it extend automatically Yes to the products, proceeds or replacements of the original assets ? Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and obligations be secured between parties; and can the collateral agreement Yes include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered? Is a collateral registry in operation, that is unified geographically and by asset type, with an Yes electronic database indexed by debtor's names? Doing Business 2014 Latvia 56 Strength of legal rights index (0–10) Index score: 10 Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor Yes defaults outside an insolvency procedure? Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is Yes liquidated? Are secured creditors either not subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised reorganization procedure, or does the law provide secured Yes creditors with grounds for relief from an automatic stay or/and sets a time limit to it? Does the law allow parties to agree in a collateral agreement that the lender may enforce its Yes security right out of court, at the time a security interest is created? Depth of credit information index (0–6) Credit bureau Credit registry Index score: 5 Are data on both firms and individuals distributed? No Yes 1 Are both positive and negative data distributed? No Yes 1 Does the registry distribute credit information from retailers, trade creditors or utility companies as well as No No 0 financial institutions? Are more than 2 years of historical credit information No Yes 1 distributed? Is data on all loans below 1% of income per capita No Yes 1 distributed? Is it guaranteed by law that borrowers can inspect No Yes 1 their data in the largest credit registry? Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either private bureau or public registry. Credit bureau Credit registry Coverage (% of adults) (% of adults) Number of firms 0 61,465 Number of individuals 0 936,214 Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 57 PROTECTING INVESTORS Protecting investors matters for the ability of WHAT THE PROTECTING INVESTORS companies to raise the capital they need to grow, INDICATORS MEASURE innovate, diversify and compete. If the laws do not protect minority shareholders, investors may be reluctant to provide funding to companies through Extent of disclosure index (0–10) the purchase of shares unless they become the Approval process for related-party controlling shareholders. Effective regulations define transactions related-party transactions precisely, promote clear Disclosure requirements in case of related- and efficient disclosure requirements, require party transactions shareholder participation in major decisions of the company and set detailed standards of accountability Extent of director liability index (0–10) for company insiders. Ability of minority shareholders to file a direct or derivative lawsuit What do the indicators cover? Ability of minority shareholders to hold Doing Business measures the strength of minority interested parties and members of the shareholder protections against directors’ use of approving body liable for prejudicial related- corporate assets for personal gain—or self-dealing. party transactions The indicators distinguish 3 dimensions of investor protections: transparency of related-party Available legal remedies (damages, repayment of profits, fines, imprisonment and rescission transactions (extent of disclosure index), liability for of the transaction) self-dealing (extent of director liability index) and minority shareholders’ access to evidence before and Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10) during trial (ease of shareholder suits index). The Access to internal corporate documents ranking on the strength of investor protection index is (directly or through a government inspector) the simple average of the percentile rankings on these 3 indices. To make the data comparable across Documents and information available during trial economies, a case study uses several assumptions about the business and the transaction. Strength of investor protection index (0–10) The business (Buyer): Simple average of the extent of disclosure, extent of director liability and ease of  Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the shareholder suits indices economy’s most important stock exchange (or at least a large private company with multiple shareholders). the company purchase used trucks from another company he owns.  Has a board of directors and a chief executive officer (CEO) who may legally act on behalf of  The price is higher than the going price for used Buyer where permitted, even if this is not trucks, but the transaction goes forward. specifically required by law.  All required approvals are obtained, and all The transaction involves the following details: required disclosures made, though the transaction is prejudicial to Buyer.  Mr. James, a director and the majority shareholder of the company, proposes that  Shareholders sue the interested parties and the members of the board of directors. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 58 PROTECTING INVESTORS Where does the economy stand today? How strong are investor protections against self- index (figure 7.1). While the indicator does not dealing in Latvia? The economy has a score of 5.7 on measure all aspects related to the protection of the strength of investor protection index, with a higher minority investors, a higher ranking does indicate that score indicating stronger protections (see the an economy’s regulations offer stronger investor summary of scoring at the end of this chapter for protections against self-dealing in the areas measured. details). Globally, Latvia stands at 68 in the ranking of 189 economies on the strength of investor protection Figure 7.1 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the strength of investor protection index Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 59 PROTECTING INVESTORS What are the changes over time? While the most recent Doing Business data reflect how ranking on the strength of investor protection index well regulations in Latvia protect minority investors over time shows whether the economy is slipping today, data over time show whether the protections behind other economies in investor protections—or have been strengthened (table 7.1). And the global surpassing them. Table 7.1 The strength of investor protections in Latvia over time By Doing Business report year Indicator DB2006 DB2007 DB2008 DB2009 DB2010 DB2011 DB2012 DB2013 DB2014 Rank .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 67 68 Extent of disclosure 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 index (0-10) Extent of director 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 liability index (0-10) Ease of shareholder 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 suits index (0-10) Strength of investor protection index (0- 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 10) Note: n.a. = not applicable (the economy was not included in Doing Business for that year). DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB2013 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 60 PROTECTING INVESTORS One way to put an economy’s scores on the protecting the number of economies with this score in 2013 as investors indicators into context is to see where the well as the regional average score. Figure 7.3 applies to economy stands in the distribution of scores across the extent of director liability index, and figure 7.4 to economies. Figure 7.2 highlights the score on the the ease of shareholder suits index. extent of disclosure index for Latvia in 2013 and shows Figure 7.2 How strong are disclosure requirements? Figure 7.3 How strong is the liability regime for directors? Number of economies with each score on the extent of Number of economies with each score on the extent of director liability index (0–10), 2013 disclosure index (0–10), 2013 Note: Higher scores indicate greater liability of directors. Note: Higher scores indicate greater disclosure. Source: Doing Business database. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 61 PROTECTING INVESTORS Figure 7.4 How easy is accessing internal corporate documents? Number of economies with each score on the ease of shareholder suits index (0–10), 2013 Note: Higher scores indicate greater minority shareholder access to evidence before and during trial. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 62 PROTECTING INVESTORS The scores recorded over time for Latvia on the changes over time in the regional average score on strength of investor protection index may also be this index. revealing (figure 7.5). Equally interesting may be the Figure 7.5 Have investor protections become stronger over time? Strength of investor protection index (0–10) Note: The higher the score, the stronger the protections. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 63 PROTECTING INVESTORS Economies with the strongest protections of minority reasonable time. As a result, reforms to strengthen investors from self-dealing require detailed disclosure investor protections may move ahead on different and define clear duties for directors. They also have fronts—such as through new or amended company well-functioning courts and up-to-date procedural laws, securities regulations or civil procedure rules. rules that give minority shareholders the means to What investor protection reforms has Doing Business prove their case and obtain a judgment within a recorded in Latvia (table 7.2)? Table 7.2 How has Latvia strengthened investor protections—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform DB2009 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2010 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2011 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2012 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2014 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2006), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 64 PROTECTING INVESTORS What are the details? The protecting investors indicators reported here for ease of shareholder suits indices, scores are assigned Latvia are based on detailed information collected to each based on a range of conditions relating to through a survey of corporate and securities lawyers disclosure, director liability and shareholder suits in a about securities regulations, company laws and court standard case study transaction (see the data notes at rules of evidence and procedure. To construct the the end of this chapter). The summary below shows extent of disclosure, extent of director liability and the details underlying the scores for Latvia. Summary of scoring for the protecting investors indicators in Latvia Europe & Central OECD high income Indicator Latvia Asia average average Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 5 6 7 Extent of director liability index (0-10) 4 5 5 Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 8 6 7 Strength of investor protection index (0-10) 5.7 5.7 6.2 Note: In cases where an economy’s regional classification is “OECD high income,” regional averages above are only displayed once. Score Score description Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 5 What corporate body provides legally sufficient Board of directors and Mr. James is 2 approval for the transaction? not allowed to vote Whether disclosure of the conflict of interest by Mr. Existence of a conflict without any 1 James to the board of directors is required? specifics Whether immediate disclosure of the transaction to 1 Disclosure on the transaction only the public and/or shareholders is required? Whether disclosure of the transaction in published 1 Disclosure on the transaction only periodic filings (annual reports) is required? Whether an external body must review the terms of 0 No the transaction before it takes place? Extent of director liability index (0-10) 4 Whether shareholders can sue directly or derivatively for the damage that the Buyer-Seller transaction 1 Yes causes to the company? Whether shareholders can hold Mr. James liable for Liable for negligence or influencing the damage that the Buyer-Seller transaction causes 1 the approval of the transaction to the company? Whether shareholders can hold members of the approving body liable for the damage that the Buyer- 1 Liable for negligence Seller transaction causes to the company? Doing Business 2014 Latvia 65 Score Score description Whether a court can void the transaction upon a Not possible or only in case of Seller's 0 successful claim by a shareholder plaintiff? fraud or bad faith Whether Mr. James pays damages for the harm caused to the company upon a successful claim by 1 Yes the shareholder plaintiff? Whether Mr. James repays profits made from the transaction upon a successful claim by the 0 No shareholder plaintiff? Whether fines and imprisonment can be applied 0 No against Mr. James? Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 8 Whether shareholders owning 10% or less of Buyer's shares can inspect transaction documents before 0 No filing suit? Whether shareholders owning 10% or less of Buyer's shares can request an inspector to investigate the 1 Yes transaction? Whether the plaintiff can obtain any documents from Any information that may lead to the 4 the defendant and witnesses during trial? discovery of relevant information Whether the plaintiff can request categories of documents from the defendant without identifying 1 Yes specific ones? Whether the plaintiff can directly question the 2 Yes, without approval from the judge defendant and witnesses during trial? Whether the level of proof required for civil suits is 0 No lower than that of criminal cases? Strength of investor protection index (0-10) 5.7 Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 66 PAYING TAXES Taxes are essential. They fund the public amenities, WHAT THE PAYING TAXES INDICATORS infrastructure and services that are crucial for a MEASURE properly functioning economy. But the level of tax rates needs to be carefully chosen—and needless Tax payments for a manufacturing company complexity in tax rules avoided. According to in 2012 (number per year adjusted for Doing Business data, in economies where it is more electronic and joint filing and payment) difficult and costly to pay taxes, larger shares of economic activity end up in the informal sector — Total number of taxes and contributions paid, where businesses pay no taxes at all. including consumption taxes (value added tax, sales tax or goods and service tax) What do the indicators cover? Method and frequency of filing and payment Using a case scenario, Doing Business measures Time required to comply with 3 major taxes the taxes and mandatory contributions that a (hours per year) medium-size company must pay in a given year as well as the administrative burden of paying taxes Collecting information and computing the tax and contributions. This case scenario uses a set of payable financial statements and assumptions about Completing tax return forms, filing with transactions made over the year. Information is proper agencies also compiled on the frequency of filing and Arranging payment or withholding payments as well as time taken to comply with tax laws. The ranking on the ease of paying taxes is Preparing separate tax accounting books, if the simple average of the percentile rankings on required its component indicators: number of annual Total tax rate (% of profit before all taxes) payments, time and total tax rate, with a threshold 1 Profit or corporate income tax being applied to the total tax rate. To make the data comparable across economies, several Social contributions and labor taxes paid by assumptions about the business and the taxes and the employer contributions are used. Property and property transfer taxes  TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that Dividend, capital gains and financial started operations on January 1, 2011. transactions taxes  The business starts from the same financial Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes position in each economy. All the taxes  Taxes and mandatory contributions include and mandatory contributions paid during corporate income tax, turnover tax and all the second year of operation are recorded. labor taxes and contributions paid by the  Taxes and mandatory contributions are company. measured at all levels of government.  A range of standard deductions and exemptions are also recorded. 1 The threshold is defined as the highest total tax rate among the top 15% of economies in the ranking on the total tax rate. It is calculated and adjusted on a yearly basis. The threshold is not based on any economic theory of an “optimal tax rate” that minimizes distortions or maximizes efficiency in the tax system of an economy overall. Instead, it is mainly empirical in nature, set at the lower end of the distribution of tax rates levied on medium-size enterprises in the manufacturing sector as observed through the paying taxes indicators. This reduces the bias in the indicators toward economies that do not need to levy significant taxes on companies like the Doing Business standardized case study company because they raise public revenue in other ways—for example, through taxes on foreign companies, through taxes on sectors other than manufacturing or from natural resources (all of which are outside the scope of the methodology). This year’s threshold is 25.5%. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 67 PAYING TAXES Where does the economy stand today? What is the administrative burden of complying with Globally, Latvia stands at 49 in the ranking of 189 taxes in Latvia—and how much do firms pay in taxes? economies on the ease of paying taxes (figure 8.1). The On average, firms make 7 tax payments a year, spend rankings for comparator economies and the regional 264 hours a year filing, preparing and paying taxes and average ranking provide other useful information for pay total taxes amounting to 35.9% of profit (see the assessing the tax compliance burden for businesses in summary at the end of this chapter for details). Latvia. Figure 8.1 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of paying taxes Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 68 PAYING TAXES What are the changes over time? The benchmarks provided by the economies that over show what is possible in easing the administrative time have had the best performance regionally or burden of tax compliance. And changes in regional globally on the number of payments or the time averages can show where Latvia is keeping up—and required to prepare and file taxes (figure 8.2) help where it is falling behind. Figure 8.2 Has paying taxes become easier over time? Payments (number per year) Time (hours per year) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 69 PAYING TAXES Total tax rate (% of profit) Note: DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB201 3 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. DB2013 rankings reflect changes to the methodology. For all economies with a total tax rate below the threshold of 25.5% applied in DB2014, the total tax rate is set at 25.5% for the purpose of calculating the ranking on the ease of paying taxes. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 70 PAYING TAXES Economies around the world have made paying taxes concrete results. Some economies simplifying tax faster and easier for businesses—such as by payment and reducing rates have seen tax revenue consolidating filings, reducing the frequency of rise. What tax reforms has Doing Business recorded in payments or offering electronic filing and payment. Latvia (table 8.1)? Many have lowered tax rates. Changes have brought Table 8.1 How has Latvia made paying taxes easier—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform DB2009 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2010 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2011 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2012 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2014 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2006), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 71 PAYING TAXES What are the details? The indicators reported here for Latvia are based LOCATION OF STANDARDIZED COMPANY on a standard set of taxes and contributions that would be paid by the case study company used by Doing Business in collecting the data (see the City: Riga section in this chapter on what the indicators cover). Tax practitioners are asked to review standard financial statements as well as a standard list of transactions that the company completed The taxes and contributions paid are listed in the during the year. Respondents are asked how much summary below, along with the associated number of in taxes and mandatory contributions the business payments, time and tax rate. must pay and what the process is for doing so. Summary of tax rates and administrative burden in Latvia Europe & Central OECD high income Indicator Latvia Asia average average Payments (number per year) 7 26 12 Time (hours per year) 264 246 175 Profit tax (%) 4.9 9.0 16.1 Labor tax and contributions (%) 27.3 22.6 23.1 Other taxes (%) 3.7 7.0 2.0 Total tax rate (% profit) 35.9 38.7 41.3 Note: In cases where an economy’s regional classification is “OECD high income,” regional averages above are only displayed once. Total tax Notes on Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory Tax base rate (% of total tax contribution (number) payments (hours) tax rate profit) rate Social security gross 1 online filing 139 24.09% 27.2 contributions salaries taxable Corporate income tax 1 online filing 31 15% 4.9 profit cadastral Real estate tax 1 online filing 0 1.5% 2.1 value Doing Business 2014 Latvia 72 Total tax Notes on Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory Tax base rate (% of total tax contribution (number) payments (hours) tax rate profit) rate various Environmental tax 1 online filing 0 per kilo 1.6 rates depends Vehicle tax 1 0 LVL 12-360 0.1 on weight LVL 0.25 number Unemployment insurance 0 paid jointly 0 per of 0.1 contribution employee employees 21% starting taxable not Value added tax (VAT) 1 online filing 94 0 from July value included 2012 included various in the small Fuel tax 1 0 0 rates price of amount fuel Totals 7 264 35.9 Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 73 TRADING ACROSS BORDERS In today’s globalized world, making trade between WHAT THE TRADING ACROSS BORDERS economies easier is increasingly important for INDICATORS MEASURE business. Excessive document requirements, burdensome customs procedures, inefficient port operations and inadequate infrastructure all lead to Documents required to export and import extra costs and delays for exporters and importers, (number) stifling trade potential. Research shows that Bank documents exporters in developing countries gain more from Customs clearance documents a 10% drop in their trading costs than from a similar reduction in the tariffs applied to their Port and terminal handling documents products in global markets. Transport documents What do the indicators cover? Time required to export and import (days) Doing Business measures the time and cost Obtaining, filling out and submitting all the (excluding tariffs and the time and cost for sea documents transport) associated with exporting and importing Inland transport and handling a standard shipment of goods by sea transport, and the number of documents necessary to Customs clearance and inspections complete the transaction. The indicators cover Port and terminal handling procedural requirements such as documentation Does not include sea transport time requirements and procedures at customs and other regulatory agencies as well as at the port. They also Cost required to export and import (US$ per cover trade logistics, including the time and cost of container) inland transport to the largest business city. The All documentation ranking on the ease of trading across borders is the simple average of the percentile rankings on its Inland transport and handling component indicators: documents, time and cost Customs clearance and inspections to export and import. Port and terminal handling To make the data comparable across economies, Official costs only, no bribes Doing Business uses several assumptions about the business and the traded goods. The business: military items.  Is of medium size and employs 60 people.  Do not require refrigeration or any other special environment.  Is located in the periurban area of the economy’s largest business city.  Do not require any special phytosanitary or environmental safety standards other than  Is a private, limited liability company, accepted international standards. domestically owned, formally registered and operating under commercial laws and  Are one of the economy’s leading export or regulations of the economy. import products. The traded goods:  Are transported in a dry-cargo, 20-foot full container load.  Are not hazardous nor do they include Doing Business 2014 Latvia 74 TRADING ACROSS BORDERS Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to export or import in Latvia? Globally, Latvia stands at 17 in the ranking of 189 According to data collected by Doing Business, economies on the ease of trading across borders exporting a standard container of goods requires 5 (figure 9.1). The rankings for comparator economies documents, takes 10 days and costs $600. Importing and the regional average ranking provide other useful the same container of goods requires 5 documents, information for assessing how easy it is for a business takes 11 days and costs $801 (see the summary of in Latvia to export and import goods. procedures and documents at the end of this chapter for details). Figure 9.1 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of trading across borders Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 75 TRADING ACROSS BORDERS What are the changes over time? The benchmarks provided by the economies that over possible in making it easier to trade across borders. time have had the best performance regionally or And changes in regional averages can show where globally on the documents, time or cost required to Latvia is keeping up—and where it is falling behind. export or import (figure 9.2) help show what is Figure 9.2 Has trading across borders become easier over time? Documents to export (number) Time to export (days) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 76 TRADING ACROSS BORDERS Cost to export (US$ per container) Documents to import (number) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 77 TRADING ACROSS BORDERS Time to import (days) Cost to import (US$ per container) Note: DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB201 3 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 78 TRADING ACROSS BORDERS In economies around the world, trading across borders systems. These changes help improve the trading as measured by Doing Business has become faster and environment and boost firms’ international easier over the years. Governments have introduced competitiveness. What trade reforms has Doing tools to facilitate trade—including single windows, Business recorded in Latvia (table 9.1)? risk-based inspections and electronic data interchange Table 9.1 How has Latvia made trading across borders easier—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform DB2009 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2010 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia reduced the time to export and import by introducing DB2011 electronic submission of customs declarations. DB2012 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia made trading across borders easier by reducing the DB2014 number of documents required for importing. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2006), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 79 TRADING ACROSS BORDERS What are the details? The indicators reported here for Latvia are based LOCATION OF STANDARDIZED COMPANY on a set of specific procedural requirements for trading a standard shipment of goods by ocean transport (see the section in this chapter on what City: Riga the indicators cover). Information on the procedures as well as the required documents and the time and cost to complete each procedure is The procedural requirements, and the associated time collected from local freight forwarders, shipping and cost, for exporting and importing a standard lines, customs brokers, port officials and banks. shipment of goods are listed in the summary below, along with the required documents. Summary of procedures and documents for trading across borders in Latvia Europe & Central OECD high income Indicator Latvia Asia average average Documents to export (number) 5 7 4 Time to export (days) 10 25 11 Cost to export (US$ per container) 600 2,109 1,070 Documents to import (number) 5 8 4 Time to import (days) 11 26 10 Cost to import (US$ per container) 801 2,339 1,090 Note: In cases where an economy’s regional classification is “OECD high income,” regional averages above are only displayed once. Procedures to export Time (days) Cost (US$) Documents preparation 5 200 Customs clearance and technical control 1 100 Ports and terminal handling 3 150 Inland transportation and handling 1 150 Totals 10 600 Procedures to import Time (days) Cost (US$) Documents preparation 4 315 Doing Business 2014 Latvia 80 Procedures to import Time (days) Cost (US$) Customs clearance and technical control 2 100 Ports and terminal handling 3 220 Inland transportation and handling 2 166 Totals 11 801 Documents to export Documents to import Bill of Lading Bill of lading Commercial invoice Commercial invoice Convention des Marchandises Routiers -- CMR Convention des Marchandises Routiers -- CMR Customs export declaration Customs import declaration Packing list Packing list Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 81 ENFORCING CONTRACTS Effective commercial dispute resolution has many WHAT THE ENFORCING CONTRACTS benefits. Courts are essential for entrepreneurs INDICATORS MEASURE because they interpret the rules of the market and protect economic rights. Efficient and transparent Procedures to enforce a contract through courts encourage new business relationships the courts (number) because businesses know they can rely on the courts if a new customer fails to pay. Speedy trials Steps to file and serve the case are essential for small enterprises, which may lack Steps for trial and judgment the resources to stay in business while awaiting the outcome of a long court dispute. Steps to enforce the judgment Time required to complete procedures What do the indicators cover? (calendar days) Doing Business measures the efficiency of the Time to file and serve the case judicial system in resolving a commercial dispute before local courts. Following the step-by-step Time for trial and obtaining judgment evolution of a standardized case study, it collects Time to enforce the judgment data relating to the time, cost and procedural complexity of resolving a commercial lawsuit. The Cost required to complete procedures (% of ranking on the ease of enforcing contracts is the claim) simple average of the percentile rankings on its Average attorney fees component indicators: procedures, time and cost. Court costs The dispute in the case study involves the breach Enforcement costs of a sales contract between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes the case from simple debt enforcement. To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses several assumptions about the case:  The seller and buyer are located in the economy’s largest business city.  The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion.  The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay.  The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal.  The seller sues the buyer before a competent court.  The seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the buyer’s movable assets.  The value of the claim is 200% of income per capita.  The seller requests a pretrial attachment to secure the claim. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 82 ENFORCING CONTRACTS Where does the economy stand today? How efficient is the process of resolving a commercial Globally, Latvia stands at 21 in the ranking of 189 dispute through the courts in Latvia? According to economies on the ease of enforcing contracts (figure data collected by Doing Business, contract enforcement 10.1). The rankings for comparator economies and the takes 469 days, costs 23.1% of the value of the claim regional average ranking provide other useful and requires 27 procedures (see the summary at the benchmarks for assessing the efficiency of contract end of this chapter for details). enforcement in Latvia. Figure 10.1 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of enforcing contracts Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 83 ENFORCING CONTRACTS What are the changes over time? The benchmarks provided by the economies that over help show what is possible in improving the efficiency time have had the best performance regionally or of contract enforcement. And changes in regional globally on the number of steps, time or cost required averages can show where Latvia is keeping up—and to enforce a contract through the courts (figure 10.2) where it is falling behind. Figure 10.2 Has enforcing contracts become easier over time? Time (days) Cost (% of claim) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 84 ENFORCING CONTRACTS Procedures (number) Note: DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB2013 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 85 ENFORCING CONTRACTS Economies in all regions have improved contract often work on reducing backlogs by introducing enforcement in recent years. A judiciary can be periodic reviews to clear inactive cases from the docket improved in different ways. Higher-income economies and by making procedures faster. What reforms tend to look for ways to enhance efficiency by making it easier (or more difficult) to enforce contracts introducing new technology. Lower-income economies has Doing Business recorded in Latvia (table 10.1)? Table 10.1 How has Latvia made enforcing contracts easier—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform DB2009 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2010 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2011 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2012 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2014 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2005), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 86 ENFORCING CONTRACTS What are the details? The indicators reported here for Latvia are based COURT NAME on a set of specific procedural steps required to resolve a standardized commercial dispute through the courts (see the section in this chapter City: Riga on what the indicators cover). These procedures, and the time and cost of completing them, are Claim Value LCU: 12849 identified through study of the codes of civil procedure and other court regulations, as well as Riga Central District through surveys completed by local litigation Court Name: Court lawyers (and, in a quarter of the economies covered by Doing Business, by judges as well). The procedures for resolving a commercial lawsuit, and the associated time and cost, are listed in the summary below. Summary of procedures for enforcing a contract in Latvia—and the time and cost Europe & Central OECD high income Indicator Latvia Asia average average Time (days) 469 441 529 Filing and service 49 Trial and judgment 300 Enforcement of judgment 120 Cost (% of claim) 23.1 25.3 21.0 Attorney cost (% of claim) 14.3 Court cost (% of claim) 6.4 Enforcement Cost (% of claim) 2.4 Procedures (number) 27 37 31 Note: In cases where an economy’s regional classification is “OECD high income,” regional averages above are only displayed once. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 87 ENFORCING CONTRACTS No. Procedure Filing and service: Plaintiff requests payment: Plaintiff or his lawyer asks Defendant orally or in writing to comply with the 1 contract. Plaintiff’s filing of summons and complaint: Plaintiff files his summons and complaint with the court, orally * or in writing. * Plaintiff’s payment of court fees: Plaintiff pays court duties, stamp duties, or any other type of court fee. Registration of court case: The court administration registers the lawsuit or court case. This includes 2 assigning a reference number to the lawsuit or court case. Assignment of court case to a judge: The court case is assigned to a specific judge through a random * procedure, automated system, ruling of an administrative judge, court officer, etc. Court scrutiny of summons and complaint: A judge examines Plaintiff's summons and complaint for 3 formal requirements. Judge admits summons and complaint: After verifying the formal requirements, the judge decides to * admit Plaintiff’s summons and complaint. Mailing of summons and complaint: Court or process server, including (private) bailiff, mails summons * and complaint to Defendant. Application for pre-judgment attachment: Plaintiff submits an application in writing for the attachment of * Defendant's property prior to judgment. (see assumption 5) Decision on pre-judgment attachment: The judge decides whether to grant Plaintiff’s request for pre- * judgment attachment of Defendant’s property and notifies Plaintiff and Defendant of the decision. This step may include requesting that Plaintiff submit guarantees or bonds to secure Defendant Pre-judgment attachment.: Defendant's property is attached prior to judgment. Attachment is either 4 physical or achieved by registering, marking, debiting or separating assets. (see assumption 5) Custody of assets attached prior to judgment: Defendant's attached assets are put under enforcement 5 officer's or (private) bailiff's care. (see assumption 5) Trial and judgment: Defendant’s filing of preliminary exemptions: Defendant presents preliminary exemptions to the court. * Preliminary exemptions differ from answers on the merits of the claim. Examples of preliminary exemptions are statute of limitations, jurisdictions, etc. Plaintiff’s answer to preliminary exemptions: Plaintiff responds to the preliminary exemptions raised by * Defendant. Judge’s resolution on preliminary exemptions: Judge decides on preliminary exemptions separately from 6 the merits of the case. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 88 No. Procedure Defendant’s filing of defense or answer to Plaintiff’s claim: Defendant files a written pleading which includes his defense or answer on the merits of the case. Defendant's written answer may or may not 7 include witness statements, expert statements, the documents Defendant relies on as evidence and the legal authori Filing of pleadings: Plaintiff and Defendant file written pleadings and submissions with the court and 8 transmit copies of the written pleadings or submissions to one another. The pleadings may or may not include witness statements or expert (witness) statements. Court appointment of independent expert: Judge appoints, either at the parties' request or at his own * initiative, an independent expert to decide whether the quality of the goods Plaintiff delivered to Defendant is adequate. (see assumption 6-b of this case) Notification of court-appointment of independent expert: The court notifies both parties that the court is 9 appointing an independent expert. (see assumption 6-b of this case) Delivery of expert report by court-appointed expert: The independent expert appointed by the court * delivers his or her expert report to the court. (see assumption 6-b of this case) Pre-trial conference on procedure: The judge meets with the parties to discuss procedural issues (for 10 example which applications and motions parties intend to file, which documents parties intend to rely on, what will be presented as evidence the oral hearing or trial, etc.) * Setting of date(s) for oral hearing or trial: The judge sets the date(s) for the oral hearing or trial. Summoning of (expert) witnesses: The court summons (expert) witnesses to appear in court for the oral 11 hearing or trial. (see assumption 6-a) Oral hearing (prevalent in civil law): The parties argue the merits of the case at an oral hearing before the 12 judge. Witnesses and a court-appointed independent expert may be heard and questioned at the oral hearing. 13 Judgment date: The judge sets a date for delivery of the judgment. 14 Notification of judgment in court: The parties are notified of the judgment at a court hearing. 15 Writing of judgment: The judge produces a written copy of the judgment. Appeal period: By law, Defendant has the opportunity to appeal the judgment during a period specified in 16 the law. Defendant decides not to appeal. Judgment becomes final the day the appeal period ends. Reimbursement by Defendant of Plaintiff's court fees: The judgment obliges Defendant to reimburse 17 Plaintiff for the court fees Plaintiff has advanced, because Defendant has lost the case. Enforcement of judgment: Plaintiff’s request for enforcement order: Plaintiff applies to the court to obtain the enforcement order * ('seal' on judgment). Attachment of enforcement order to judgment: The judge attaches the enforcement order (‘seal’) to the 18 judgment. Delivery of enforcement order: The court's enforcement order is delivered to a court enforcement officer * or a (private) bailiff. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 89 No. Procedure Request to Defendant to comply voluntarily with judgment: Plaintiff, a court enforcement officer or a 19 (private) bailiff requests Defendant to voluntarily comply with the judgment, giving Defendant a last chance to comply voluntarily with the judgment. Identification of Defendant's assets for attachment by court official or Defendant: Judge, a court 20 enforcement officer, a (private) bailiff or the Defendant himself identifies Defendant's movable assets for attachment. Attachment: Defendant’s movable goods are attached (physically or by registering, marking or separating 21 assets). Valuation or appraisal of attached movable goods: The court or court appointed valuation expert 22 evaluates the attached goods. Call for public auction: The judge calls a public auction by, for example, advertising or publication in the 23 newspapers. 24 Sale through public auction: The Defendant’s movable property is sold at public auction. 25 Judge's decision on bids: The judge determines the adequacy of the bids presented at public auction. Distribution of proceeds: The proceeds of the public auction are distributed to various creditors (including 26 Plaintiff), according to the rules of priority. 27 Payment: Court orders that the proceeds of the public auction or the direct sale be delivered to Plaintiff. * Not counted in the total number of procedures. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 90 RESOLVING INSOLVENCY A robust bankruptcy system functions as a filter, WHAT THE RESOLVING INSOLVENCY ensuring the survival of economically efficient companies and reallocating the resources of INDICATORS MEASURE inefficient ones. Fast and cheap insolvency proceedings result in the speedy return of Time required to recover debt (years) businesses to normal operation and increase Measured in calendar years returns to creditors. By improving the expectations of creditors and debtors about the outcome of Appeals and requests for extension are insolvency proceedings, well-functioning included insolvency systems can facilitate access to finance, Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s save more viable businesses and thereby improve estate) growth and sustainability in the economy overall. Measured as percentage of estate value What do the indicators cover? Court fees Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome Fees of insolvency administrators of insolvency proceedings involving domestic entities. It does not measure insolvency Lawyers’ fees proceedings of individuals and financial Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees institutions. The data are derived from survey Other related fees responses by local insolvency practitioners and verified through a study of laws and regulations as Outcome well as public information on bankruptcy systems. Whether business continues operating as a The ranking on the ease of resolving insolvency is going concern or business assets are sold based on the recovery rate, which is recorded as piecemeal cents on the dollar recouped by creditors through Recovery rate for creditors (cents on the reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement dollar) (foreclosure) proceedings. The recovery rate is a Measures the cents on the dollar recovered function of time, cost and other factors, such as by creditors lending rate and the likelihood of the company continuing to operate. Present value of debt recovered To make the data comparable across economies, Official costs of the insolvency proceedings Doing Business uses several assumptions about the are deducted business and the case. It assumes that the Depreciation of furniture is taken into company: account  Is a domestically owned, limited liability Outcome for the business (survival or not) company operating a hotel. affects the maximum value that can be recovered  Operates in the economy’s largest business city.  Has 201 employees, 1 main secured  Has a higher value as a going concern—and creditor and 50 unsecured creditors. the efficient outcome is either reorganization or sale as a going concern, not piecemeal liquidation. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 91 RESOLVING INSOLVENCY Where does the economy stand today? Speed, low costs and continuation of viable businesses piecemeal sale. The average recovery rate is 48.4 cents characterize the top-performing economies. How on the dollar. efficient are insolvency proceedings in Latvia? Globally, Latvia stands at 43 in the ranking of 189 According to data collected by Doing Business, economies on the ease of resolving insolvency (figure resolving insolvency takes 1.5 years on average and 11.1). The rankings for comparator economies and the costs 10% of the debtor’s estate, with the most likely regional average ranking provide other useful outcome being that the company will be sold as benchmarks for assessing the efficiency of insolvency proceedings in Latvia. Figure 11.1 How Latvia and comparator economies rank on the ease of resolving insolvency Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 92 RESOLVING INSOLVENCY What are the changes over time? The benchmarks provided by the economies that over possible in improving the efficiency of insolvency time have had the best performance regionally or proceedings. And changes in regional averages can globally on the time or cost of insolvency proceedings show where Latvia is keeping up—and where it is or on the recovery rate (figure 11.2) help show what is falling behind. Figure 11.2 Has resolving insolvency become easier over time? Time (years) Cost (% of estate) Doing Business 2014 Latvia 93 RESOLVING INSOLVENCY Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) Note: DB2013 rankings shown are not last year’s published rankings but comparable rankings for DB2013 that capture the effects of such factors as data corrections and the addition of 4 economies (Libya, Myanmar, San Marino and South Sudan) to the sample this year. “No practice” indicates that in each of the previous 5 years the economy had no cases involving a judicial reorganization, judicial liquidation or debt enforcement procedure (foreclosure). This means that creditors are unlikely to recover their money through a formal legal process (in or out of court). The recovery rate for “no practice” economies is 0. Regional averages on time and cost exclude economies with a “no practice” mark. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 94 RESOLVING INSOLVENCY A well-balanced bankruptcy system distinguishes change. Many recent reforms of bankruptcy laws have companies that are financially distressed but been aimed at helping more of the viable businesses economically viable from inefficient companies that survive. What insolvency reforms has Doing Business should be liquidated. But in some insolvency systems recorded in Latvia (table 11.1)? even viable businesses are liquidated. This is starting to Table 11.1 How has Latvia made resolving insolvency easier—or not? By Doing Business report year DB year Reform Latvia passed a new insolvency law which allows for the first time financially distressed companies to continue operating by DB2009 pursuing reorganization. The reform also strengthened the qualification standards for bankruptcy administrators. DB2010 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia introduced a mechanism forout-of-court settlement of DB2011 insolvencies to alleviate pressure on courts and tightened some procedural deadlines. Latvia adopted a new insolvency law that streamlines and DB2012 expedites the insolvency process and introduces a reorganization option for companies. DB2013 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2014 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2005), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 95 EMPLOYING WORKERS Doing Business measures flexibility in the regulation of employing workers methodology proposed by the employment, specifically as it affects the hiring and consultative group are available on the Doing Business redundancy of workers and the rigidity of working website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). The data on hours. Over the period from 2007 to 2011 employing workers are based on a detailed survey of improvements were made to align the methodology employment regulations that is completed by local for the employing workers indicators with the letter lawyers and public officials. Employment laws and and spirit of the International Labour Organization regulations as well as secondary sources are reviewed (ILO) conventions. Only 4 of the 188 ILO conventions to ensure accuracy. cover areas measured by Doing Business: employee To make the data comparable across economies, termination, weekend work, holiday with pay and night several assumptions about the worker and the work. The Doing Business methodology is fully business are used. consistent with these 4 conventions. The ILO conventions covering areas related to the Employing The worker: Workers indicators do not include the ILO core labor  Earns a salary plus benefits equal to the standards—8 conventions covering the right to economy’s average wage during the entire collective bargaining, the elimination of forced labor, period of his employment. the abolition of child labor and equitable treatment in  Has a pay period that is the most common for workers in the economy. employment practices.  Is a lawful citizen who belongs to the same race and religion as the majority of the Between 2009 and 2011 the World Bank Group worked economy’s population. with a consultative group—including labor lawyers,  Resides in the economy’s largest business city. employer and employee representatives, and experts  Is not a member of a labor union, unless from the ILO, OECD, civil society and the private membership is mandatory. sector—to review the employing workers methodology and explore future areas of research. A i The business:  Is a limited liability company. full report with the conclusions of the consultative  Operates in the economy’s largest business group is available at city. http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology/employin  Is 100% domestically owned. g-workers.  Operates in the manufacturing sector.  Has 60 employees. This year Doing Business continued research collecting  Is subject to collective bargaining agreements additional data on regulations covering the in economies where such agreements cover probationary period for new employees. more than half the manufacturing sector and apply even to firms not party to them. Doing Business 2014 presents the data on the  Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more benefits than employing workers indicators in an annex. The report mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) does not present rankings of economies on the collective bargaining agreement. employing workers indicators nor include the topic in the aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor regulations and the Doing Business 2014 Latvia 96 EMPLOYING WORKERS What do some of the data show? One of the employing workers indicators is the worker in his or her first job. Doing Business data show difficulty of hiring index. This measure assesses, among the trend in the minimum wage applied by Latvia other things, the minimum wage for a 19-year-old (figure 12.1). Figure 12.1 Has the minimum wage for a 19-year-old worker or an apprentice increased over time? Minimum wage (US$ per month) Note: A horizontal line along the x-axis of the figure indicates that the economy has no minimum wage. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 97 EMPLOYING WORKERS Employment laws are needed to protect workers from past 5 years did so in ways that increased labor market arbitrary or unfair treatment and to ensure efficient flexibility. What changes did Latvia adopt that affected contracting between employers and workers. Many the Doing Business indicators on employing workers economies that changed their labor regulations in the (table 12.1)? Table 12.1 What changes did Latvia make in employing workers in 2013? DB year Reform DB2009 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2010 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2011 No reform as measured by Doing Business. DB2012 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Latvia eliminated notification requirements to third parties in DB2013 cases of redundancy dismissal. DB2014 No reform as measured by Doing Business. Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 98 EMPLOYING WORKERS What are the details? The data on employing workers reported here for public officials. Employment laws and regulations as Latvia are based on a detailed survey of employment well as secondary sources are reviewed to ensure regulations that is completed by local lawyers and accuracy. Rigidity of employment index The rigidity of employment index measures 3 areas of labor regulation: difficulty of hiring, rigidity of hours and difficulty of redundancy. Difficulty of hiring index The difficulty of hiring index measures whether fixed- worker. (The average value added per worker is the term contracts are prohibited for permanent tasks; the ratio of an economy’s gross national income per capita maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts; to the working-age population as a percentage of the and the ratio of the minimum wage for a trainee or total population.) first-time employee to the average value added per Difficulty of hiring index Data Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes Maximum length of a single fixed-term contract (months) 36 (Sec. 45(1)) Maximum length of fixed-term contracts, including renewals (months) 36 Minimum wage for a 19-year old worker or an apprentice (US$/month) 370.0 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.21 Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 99 EMPLOYING WORKERS Rigidity of hours index The rigidity of hours index has 5 components: whether respond to a seasonal increase in production; and there are restrictions on night work; whether there are whether the average paid annual leave for a worker restrictions on weekly holiday work; whether the with 1 year of tenure, a worker with 5 years and a workweek can consist of 5.5 days or is more than 6 worker with 10 years is more than 26 working days or days; whether the workweek can extend to 50 hours or fewer than 15 working days. more (including overtime) for 2 months a year to Rigidity of hours index Data Standard workday in manufacturing (hours) 8 hours (Sec. 131(1)). 50-hour workweek allowed for 2 months a year in case of a seasonal Yes increase in production? Maximum working days per week 5.5 Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) in case of continuous 50% operations Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) in case of 0% continuous operations Major restrictions on night work in case of continuous operations? Yes Major restrictions on weekly holiday in case of continuous operations? No Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (in working days) 20.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (in working days) 20.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (in working days) 20.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in 20.0 working days) Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 100 EMPLOYING WORKERS Difficulty of redundancy index The difficulty of redundancy index has 8 components: worker; whether the employer needs approval from a whether redundancy is disallowed as a basis for third party to terminate a group of 9 redundant terminating workers; whether the employer needs to workers; whether the law requires the employer to notify a third party (such as a government agency) to reassign or retrain a worker before making the worker terminate 1 redundant worker; whether the employer redundant; whether priority rules apply for needs to notify a third party to terminate a group of 9 redundancies; and whether priority rules apply for redundant workers; whether the employer needs reemployment. approval from a third party to terminate 1 redundant Difficulty of redundancy index Data Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes Third-party notification if 1 worker is dismissed? No Third-party approval if 1 worker is dismissed? No Third-party notification if 9 workers are dismissed? No Third-party approval if 9 workers are dismissed? No Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? Yes Priority rules for redundancies? Yes Priority rules for reemployment? No Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 101 EMPLOYING WORKERS Redundancy cost The redundancy cost indicator measures the cost of notice requirements and severance payments advance notice requirements, severance payments and applicable to a worker with 1 year of tenure, a worker penalties due when terminating a redundant worker, with 5 years and a worker with 10 years is used to expressed in weeks of salary. The average value of assign the score. Redundancy cost indicator Data Notice period for redundancy dismissal (for a worker with 1 year of tenure, in salary 1.0 weeks) Notice period for redundancy dismissal (for a worker with 5 years of tenure, in 1.0 salary weeks) Notice period for redundancy dismissal (for a worker with 10 years of tenure, in 1.0 salary weeks) Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years 1.0 of tenure, in salary weeks) Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (for a worker with 1 year of tenure, in 4.3 salary weeks) Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (for a worker with 5 years of tenure, in 8.7 salary weeks) Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (for a worker with 10 years of tenure, in 13.0 salary weeks) Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years 8.7 of tenure, in salary weeks) Source: Doing Business database. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 102 DATA NOTES The indicators presented and analyzed in Doing rounds of verification, leading to revisions or Business measure business regulation and the expansions of the information collected. protection of property rights—and their effect on businesses, especially small and medium-size domestic firms. First, the indicators document the complexity of ECONOMY CHARACTERISTICS regulation, such as the number of procedures to start a business or to register and transfer commercial property. Second, they gauge the time and cost to Gross national income per capita achieve a regulatory goal or comply with regulation, such as the time and cost to enforce a contract, go Doing Business 2014 reports 2012 income per capita through bankruptcy or trade across borders. Third, as published in the World Bank’s World Development they measure the extent of legal protections of Indicators 2013. Income is calculated using the Atlas property, for example, the protections of investors method (current U.S. dollars). For cost indicators against looting by company directors or the range of expressed as a percentage of income per capita, assets that can be used as collateral according to 2012 gross national income (GNI) in U.S. dollars is secured transactions laws. Fourth, a set of indicators used as the denominator. GNI data were not documents the tax burden on businesses. Finally, a set available from the World Bank for Afghanistan, The of data covers different aspects of employment Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Brunei Darussalam, regulation. The 11 sets of indicators measured in Djibouti, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Doing Business were added over time, and the sample Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, San Marino, the of economies expanded. Syrian Arab Republic, West Bank and Gaza, and the Republic of Yemen. In these cases GDP or GNP per The data for all sets of indicators in Doing Business 2 capita data and growth rates from other sources, 2014 are for June 2013. such as the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook database and the Economist Intelligence Unit, were used. Methodology Region and income group The Doing Business data are collected in a standardized way. To start, the Doing Business team, Doing Business uses the World Bank regional and with academic advisers, designs a questionnaire. The income group classifications, available at questionnaire uses a simple business case to ensure http://data.worldbank.org/about/country- classifications. The World Bank does not assign comparability across economies and over time—with regional classifications to high-income economies. assumptions about the legal form of the business, its For the purpose of the Doing Business report, high- size, its location and the nature of its operations. income OECD economies are assigned the “regional” Questionnaires are administered to more than 10,200 classification OECD high income. Figures and tables local experts, including lawyers, business consultants, presenting regional averages include economies accountants, freight forwarders, government officials from all income groups (low, lower middle, upper and other professionals routinely administering or middle and high income). advising on legal and regulatory requirements (table Population 21.2). These experts have several rounds of interaction with the Doing Business team, involving conference Doing Business 2014 reports midyear 2012 calls, written correspondence and visits by the team. population statistics as published in World For Doing Business 2014 team members visited 33 Development Indicators 2013. economies to verify data and recruit respondents. The data from questionnaires are subjected to numerous The Doing Business methodology offers several advantages. It is transparent, using factual information about what laws and regulations say and allowing 2 The data for paying taxes refer to January – December 2012. multiple interactions with local respondents to clarify Doing Business 2014 Latvia 103 potential misinterpretations of questions. Having entrepreneurs reported in the World Bank Enterprise representative samples of respondents is not an issue; Surveys or other perception surveys. Doing Business is not a statistical survey, and the texts This year Doing Business completed subnational of the relevant laws and regulations are collected and studies in Colombia, Italy and the city of Hargeisa answers checked for accuracy. The methodology is (Somaliland) and is currently updating indicators in inexpensive and easily replicable, so data can be Egypt, Mexico and Nigeria. Doing Business also collected in a large sample of economies. Because published regional studies for the g7+ and the East standard assumptions are used in the data collection, African Community. The g7+ group is a country- comparisons and benchmarks are valid across owned and country-led global mechanism established economies. Finally, the data not only highlight the in April 2010 to monitor, report and draw attention to extent of specific regulatory obstacles to business but the unique challenges faced by fragile states. The also identify their source and point to what might be member countries included in the report are reformed. Information on the methodology for each Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Doing Business topic can be found on the Doing Chad, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Business website at Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology. Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Togo. Limits to what is measured The subnational studies point to differences in business regulation and its implementation —as well as The Doing Business methodology has 5 limitations that in the pace of regulatory reform—across cities in the should be considered when interpreting the data. First, same economy. For several economies subnational the collected data refer to businesses in the economy’s studies are now periodically updated to measure largest business city (which in some economies differs change over time or to expand geographic coverage from the capital) and may not be representative of to additional cities. This year that is the case for all the regulation in other parts of the economy. To address subnational studies published. this limitation, subnational Doing Business indicators were created (box 21.1). Second, the data often focus on a specific business form—generally a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) of a specified Changes in what is measured size—and may not be representative of the regulation The methodology for 2 indicator sets—trading across on other businesses, for example, sole proprietorships. borders and paying taxes—was updated this year. For Third, transactions described in a standardized case trading across borders, documents that are required scenario refer to a specific set of issues and may not purely for purposes of preferential treatment are no represent the full set of issues a business encounters. longer included in the list of documents (for example, Fourth, the measures of time involve an element of a certificate of origin if the use is only to qualify for a judgment by the expert respondents. When sources preferential tariff rate under trade agreements). For indicate different estimates, the time indicators paying taxes, the value of fuel taxes is no longer reported in Doing Business represent the median included in the total tax rate because of the difficulty values of several responses given under the of computing these taxes in a consistent way across all assumptions of the standardized case. economies covered. The fuel tax amounts are in most cases very small, and measuring these amounts is Finally, the methodology assumes that a business has often complicated because they depend on fuel full information on what is required and does not consumption. Fuel taxes continue to be counted in the waste time when completing procedures. In practice, number of payments. completing a procedure may take longer if the business lacks information or is unable to follow up In a change involving several indicator sets, the rule promptly. Alternatively, the business may choose to establishing that each procedure must take at least 1 disregard some burdensome procedures. For both day was removed for procedures that can be fully reasons the time delays reported in Doing Business completed online in just a few hours. This change 2014 would differ from the recollection of affects the time indicator for starting a business, Doing Business 2014 Latvia 104 dealing with construction permits and registering with one another, while the distance to frontier property. For procedures that can be fully completed measure benchmarks economies to the frontier in 3 online, the duration is now set at half a day rather than regulatory practice, measuring the absolute distance to a full day. the best performance on each indicator. Both measures can be used for comparisons over time. The threshold for the total tax rate introduced in 2011 When compared across years, the distance to frontier for the purpose of calculating the ranking on the ease measure shows how much the regulatory environment of paying taxes was updated. All economies with a for local entrepreneurs in each economy has changed total tax rate below the threshold (which is calculated over time in absolute terms, while the ease of doing and adjusted on a yearly basis) receive the same business ranking can show only relative change. ranking on the total tax rate indicator. The threshold is not based on any economic theory of an “optimal tax Ease of doing business rate” that minimizes distortions or maximizes efficiency The ease of doing business index ranks economies in the tax system of an economy overall. Instead, it is from 1 to 189. For each economy the ranking is mainly empirical in nature, set at the lower end of the calculated as the simple average of the percentile distribution of tax rates levied on medium-size rankings on each of the 10 topics included in the index enterprises in the manufacturing sector as observed in Doing Business 2014: starting a business, dealing through the paying taxes indicators. This reduces the with construction permits, getting electricity, bias in the indicators toward economies that do not registering property, getting credit, protecting need to levy significant taxes on companies like the investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, Doing Business standardized case study company enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. The because they raise public revenue in other ways—for employing workers indicators are not included in this example, through taxes on foreign companies, through year’s aggregate ease of doing business ranking. taxes on sectors other than manufacturing or from natural resources (all of which are outside the scope of Construction of the ease of doing business index the methodology). This year the threshold is 25,5%. Here is one example of how the ease of doing business index is constructed. In Denmark it takes 4 procedures, 5.5 days and 0.2% of annual income per capita in fees Data challenges and revisions to open a business. The minimum capital requirement Most laws and regulations underlying the Doing is 24% of annual income per capita. On these 4 Business data are available on the Doing Business indicators Denmark ranks in the 12th, 11th, 1st and website at http://www.doingbusiness.org. All the 79th percentiles. So on average Denmark ranks in the sample questionnaires and the details underlying the 25th percentile on the ease of starting a business. It indicators are also published on the website. Questions ranks in the 21st percentile on getting credit, 19th on the methodology and challenges to data can be percentile on paying taxes, 27th percentile on submitted through the website’s “Ask a Question” enforcing contracts, 5th percentile on resolving function at http://www.doingbusiness.org. insolvency and so on. Higher rankings indicate simpler regulation and stronger protection of property rights. Ease of doing business and distance to The simple average of Denmark’s percentile rankings frontier on all topics is 17th. When all economies are ordered Doing Business 2014 presents results for 2 aggregate by their average percentile rankings, Denmark stands measures: the aggregate ranking on the ease of doing at 5 in the aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business and the distance to frontier measure. The business. ease of doing business ranking compares economies More complex aggregation methods—such as 3 For getting electricity the rule that each procedure must take a principal components and unobserved components— minimum of 1 day still applies because in practice there are no yield a ranking nearly identical to the simple average cases in which procedures can be fully completed online in less than a day. For example, even though in some cases it is possible to apply for an electricity connection online, additional requirements mean that the process cannot be completed in less than 1 day. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 105 4 used by Doing Business. Thus, Doing Business uses 58 on enforcing contracts, 116 on dealing with the simplest method: weighting all topics equally and, construction permits and 145 on getting electricity. within each topic, giving equal weight to each of the Variation in performance across the indicator sets is topic components. not at all unusual. It reflects differences in the degree If an economy has no laws or regulations covering a of priority that government authorities give to specific area—for example, insolvency—it receives a particular areas of business regulation reform and the “no practice” mark. Similarly, an economy receives a ability of different government agencies to deliver “no practice” or “not possible” mark if regulation exists tangible results in their area of responsibility. but is never used in practice or if a competing Distance to frontier measure regulation prohibits such practice. Either way, a “no practice” mark puts the economy at the bottom of the A drawback of the ease of doing business ranking is ranking on the relevant indicator. that it can measure the regulatory performance of economies only relative to the performance of others. The ease of doing business index is limited in scope. It It does not provide information on how the absolute does not account for an economy’s proximity to large quality of the regulatory environment is improving markets, the quality of its infrastructure services (other over time. Nor does it provide information on how than services related to trading across borders and large the gaps are between economies at a single getting electricity), the strength of its financial system, point in time. the security of property from theft and looting, macroeconomic conditions or the strength of The distance to frontier measure is designed to underlying institutions. address both shortcomings, complementing the ease of doing business ranking. This measure illustrates the Variability of economies’ rankings across topics distance of an economy to the “frontier,” and the Each indicator set measures a different aspect of the change in the measure over time shows the extent to business regulatory environment. The rankings of an which the economy has closed this gap. The frontier is economy can vary, sometimes significantly, across a score derived from the most efficient practice or indicator sets. The average correlation coefficient highest score achieved on each of the component between the 10 indicator sets included in the indicators in 10 Doing Business indicator sets aggregate ranking is 0.38, and the coefficients (excluding the employing workers indicators) by any between any 2 sets of indicators range from 0.18 economy. In starting a business, for example, Canada (between getting electricity and getting credit) to 0.58 and New Zealand have achieved the highest (between trading across borders and resolving performance on the number of procedures required (1) insolvency and between trading across borders and and on the time (0.5 days), Denmark and Slovenia on getting electricity). These correlations suggest that the cost (0% of income per capita) and Chile, Zambia economies rarely score universally well or universally and 99 other economies on the paid-in minimum badly on the indicators. capital requirement (0% of income per capita) (table 22.2). Consider the example of Canada. It stands at 19 in the aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business. Its Calculating the distance to frontier for each economy ranking is 2 on starting a business, 4 on protecting involves 2 main steps. First, individual indicator scores investors, and 8 on paying taxes. But its ranking is only are normalized to a common unit: except for the total tax rate, each of the 31 component indicators y is rescaled to (max − y)/(max − min), with the minimum 4 See Simeon Djankov, Darshini Manraj, Caralee McLiesh and Rita Ramalho, “Doing Business Indicators: Why Aggregate, and How to value (min) representing the frontier—the highest Do It” (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005). Principal components performance on that indicator across all economies and unobserved components methods yield a ranking nearly since 2003 or the first year the indicator was collected. 5 identical to that from the simple average method because both these methods assign roughly equal weights to the topics, since the For the total tax rate, consistent with the calculation of pairwise correlations among indicators do not differ much. An alternative to the simple average method is to give different weights to the topics, depending on which are considered of more or less 5 Even though scores for the distance to frontier are calculated from importance in the context of a specific economy. 2005, data from as early as 2003 are used to define the frontier Doing Business 2014 Latvia 106 the rankings, the frontier is defined as the total tax rate Economies that improved the most across 3 or at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution of more Doing Business topics in 2012/13 total tax rates for all years. Second, for each economy Doing Business 2014 uses a simple method to calculate the scores obtained for individual indicators are which economies improved the most in the ease of aggregated through simple averaging into one doing business. First, it selects the economies that in distance to frontier score, first for each topic and then 2012/13 implemented regulatory reforms making it across all topics. An economy’s distance to frontier is easier to do business in 3 or more of the 10 topics indicated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents included in this year’s ease of doing business ranking. 6 the lowest performance and 100 the frontier. Twenty-nine economies meet this criterion: Azerbaijan, The maximum (max) and minimum (min) observed Belarus, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Djibouti, values are computed for all economies included in the Gabon, Guatemala, Guinea, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, the Doing Business sample since 2003 and for all years former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, (from 2003 to 2013). To mitigate the effects of extreme Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, outliers in the distributions of the rescaled data (very Panama, the Philippines, the Republic of Congo, few economies need 694 days to complete the Romania, the Russian Federation, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, procedures to start a business, but many need 9 days), Ukraine, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates. th the maximum (max) is defined as the 95 percentile of Second, Doing Business sorts these economies on the the pooled data for all economies and all years for increase in their distance to frontier measure from the each indicator. The exceptions are the getting credit, previous year using comparable data. protecting investors and resolving insolvency Selecting the economies that implemented regulatory indicators, whose construction precludes outliers. In reforms in at least 3 topics and improved the most in addition, the cost to export and cost to import for each the distance to frontier measure is intended to year are divided by the GDP deflator, so as to take the highlight economies with ongoing, broadbased reform general price level into account when benchmarking programs. The criterion for identifying the top these absolute-cost indicators across economies with improvers was changed from last year. The different inflation trends. The base year for the deflator improvement in ease of doing business ranking is no is 2013 for all economies. longer used. The improvement in the distance to The difference between an economy’s distance to frontier measure is used instead because under this frontier score in any previous year and its score in measure economies are sorted according to their abs- 2013 illustrates the extent to which the economy has olute improvement instead of relative improvement. closed the gap to the frontier over time. And in any given year the score measures how far an economy is from the highest performance at that time. Take Colombia, which has a score of 70.5 on the distance to frontier measure for 2014. This score indicates that the economy is 29.5 percentage points away from the frontier constructed from the best performances across all economies and all years. Colombia was further from the frontier in 2009, with a score of 66.2. The difference between the scores shows an improvement over time. The distance to frontier measure can also be used for comparisons across economies in the same year, complementing the ease of doing business ranking. For example, Colombia stands at 63 this year in the ease of doing business ranking, while Peru, which is 6 Doing Business reforms making it more difficult to do business are 29.3 percentage points from the frontier, stands at 42. subtracted from the total number of those making it easier to do business. Doing Business 2014 Latvia 108 RESOURCES ON THE DOING BUSINESS WEBSITE Current features Doing Business reforms News on the Doing Business project Short summaries of DB2014 business regulation http://www.doingbusiness.org reforms, lists of reforms since DB2008 and a ranking simulation tool Rankings http://www.doingbusiness.org/reforms/ How economies rank—from 1 to 189 http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings/ Historical data Customized data sets since DB2004 Data http://www.doingbusiness.org/custom-query/ All the data for 189 economies—topic rankings, indicator values, lists of regulatory procedures and Law library details underlying indicators Online collection of business laws and regulations http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/ relating to business and gender issues http://www.doingbusiness.org/law-library/ Reports http://wbl.worldbank.org/ Access to Doing Business reports as well as subnational and regional reports, reform case Contributors studies and customized economy and regional More than 10,200 specialists in 189 economies profiles who participate in Doing Business http://www.doingbusiness.org/reports/ http://www.doingbusiness.org/contributors/doing- business/ Methodology The methodologies and research papers Entrepreneurship data underlying Doing Business Data on business density for 139 economies http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology/ http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/e ntrepreneurship Research Abstracts of papers on Doing Business topics and Doing Business iPhone App related policy issues Doing Business at a Glance App presents the full http://www.doingbusiness.org/research/ report, rankings and highlights http://www.doingbusiness.org/specialfeatures/ iphone Doing Business 2014 Latvia 109