Preconditions for regular operation in the book sector

AZERBAIJAN
In the Soviet era all publishing houses and bookshops belonged to the state. Now it is not so. Firms may be founded by anyone to produce and distribute books. The legal procedure is not simple: besides regulations concerning the laws on enterprises, legal entities and owner's activities, publishers must obtain a licence issued by the Ministry of Information and Press. There is a fee, too, a minimum of 2 million manats (about $500).
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BULGARIA
There are no preconditions. Publishers, printers and booksellers should be registered as traders, possess a statistical trade number and tax authority's number. Before opening a bookshop, regulations applying to all kinds of shops are checked: fire, hygiene, etc.
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CROATIA
No special, additional preconditions exist for publishers or booksellers. They follow the usual procedure in establishing their companies. Below the yearly revenue of 4 million DM one has the option of acting as an unregistered tradesman.
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CZECH REPUBLIC
There are no special preconditions to starting publishing or bookselling. The general requirements of people entering business are similar to other countries, e.g. the minimum age of 18 years, eligibility for performing legal acts and legal integrity certified by an abstract from the criminal record. Qualification, capital or market demand are not decisive for having the opportunity to perform this type of activity. Administrative fee is charged for the issue of a business licence, currently in the sum of CZK 1,000 (about $27). With the publishers register no longer in use, the National Library is now in charge of keeping record of publishing entities.

GEORGIA
To establish a publishing house or a bookshop the following conditions must be met: a minimum capital sum of 1000 USD. The procedure of registration in the courts and in the Tax Inspection Office (this procedure costs approx. $100). A separate registration system for the book sector does not exist, neither does a system of licensing.

HUNGARY
There are none. As with other actors in the economic field, publishers, printers and booksellers must register their activities with the tax authorities. Before opening a bookshop, regulations applying to all kinds of shops are checked: fire, hygiene, etc. No special regulations exist for the book sector on the following issues: pricing, discounting, use of bar-codes, direct sales (book clubs), etc..
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LITHUANIA
Only legal entities, owned by Lithuanian citizens or by other persons legally registered in Lithuania are entitled to do business (with the exceptions of private individuals working in certain professions or occupations). In setting up an enterprise, no specific procedure is required for traders in, or publishers of books. Enterprises must record their firm's name with the State Patent Bureau prior to their company registration. Besides this, commercial enterprises are registered with the Enterprise Registry run by local municipalities or the Ministry of Economics. Enterprises with foreign capital must obtain consent from the local municipal authorities for the stated activity of the enterprise and must then be registered with the Ministry of Economics. When the company has been registered, it may not start its activities until the following steps have been completed: 1) registration with the local Tax Inspection Office within five working days of the date of registration; 2) registration at the local office of the State Social Insurance Board within ten days of the date of registration; 3) opening of a settlement bank account (to handle normal commercial transactions); 4) if appropriate, registration as a value-added tax (VAT) payer if the newly established company expects its annual income to meet or exceed 100,000 Litas ($25,000); and 5) the acquisition of any other permission or license required by law. In order to open a bookshop, it is necessary to give the certificates to the local municipality, stating the design capacity of each retail sales unit, the range of goods offered for sale and with the permit issued by the hygiene centre. Operational companies must file these documents with the municipalities each year by 1 March. The law on trade prohibits the following from engaging in trade: 1) any person whom the court declares insolvent; 2) persons whose legal capacity is restricted by law; and 3) political parties and political organisations (except for not-for-sale political or public relation publications).
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MOLDOVA
The Moldovan legislation does not provide special preconditions concerning activities in the book sector. There is no separate registry for publishing houses. They follow the same system of registration as any other type of commercial enterprise, and must register at the State Trade Registry and at the Ministry of Justice. The most frequent legal form of publishing houses are: limited liability companies, public associations and state enterprises. The licence for retail sales activity is issued by the Chisinau Mayor's office; the fee for a year's licence is equal to seventy to one hundred and fifty months of the minimum wage. For tax registration there is a fee equal to thirty months minimum wage.
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POLAND

There are no special preconditions. The press law contains a taxative list of those entitled to do publishing but it has no exclusive character.

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SLOVAKIA
Prior to commencing their activities neither the publisher, the book distributor nor the bookseller are obliged to fulfil any obligation. Publishing and the distribution of books are classified as free notifiable trades. The Trade Licensing Office is obliged to issue a trade licence to entrepreneurs from the sphere of publication and distribution of books within 15 days and the entrepreneur is obliged to pay an administrative fee of 1.000 SK (about $22,50).
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SLOVENIA

There are no special requirements or register for publishers and booksellers and no specific requirements on professional qualifications of employees. Since there is no obligation for the publishers to set up limited companies, they often assume other forms of association (foundation, society, institute). Societies in particular pursue interests of the people sharing common interests. They are non-profit in nature. Simplicity of founding procedures and their openness makes them particularly attractive to potential publishers. They must all take up "22.11 Publishing of books" among their activities.

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TAJIKISTAN
To either publish or distribute one must register at the Ministry of Press. The fee is equal to twelve months' minimum wage.
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UKRAINE
There is an obligatory requirement for publishers, producers and distributors of press products to register their activities with the State Registry. The registration confirms the legality of a publisher's activity and is a kind of license. Companies owned in more than 30% by foreigners cannot enter this register.
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YUGOSLAVIA
Contrary to the assumption that books are a form of public organ (see "Limits of freedom..." above) publishers are not obliged to enter into the registry of public organs in either of the federal republics. In Montenegro book publishers are obliged to be entered into the Registry of publishers, which is kept by the Ministry of Culture. domestic and foreign people and entities are permitted to engage in printing, publishing and distributing books. The import and distribution of books from abroad is referred to by the Law on Importation and Distribution of Foreign Means of Mass Communication and on Foreign Informative Activities. This law was passed in 1974 and, although formally still in force, it is in practice obsolete.
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