The decree signed by President Boris Yeltsin last Friday and scheduled to be implemented Thursday replaces a 1990 Soviet law that allowed 30 days for such registration.
Petr Medvedev, a tax and legal consultant with the Arthur Andersen consulting agency, said: "The new decree is a very big step toward easing the process of registration, if it is implemented properly."
But he added that he did not believe the new decree would accelerate registration of new enterprises.
"The previous regulations required the same registration documents to be presented, but officials demanded" presentation of other papers too, he said.
The new decree, however, also provides that government offices may demand other documents than mentioned in the regulation.
The decree only applies to Russian enterprises. Firms with foreign investments are still regulated by the law on foreign investments, the decree says.
Medvedev said registration offices have neither enough staff nor premises to cope with a three-day deadline.
Medvedev also said companies with the charter capital of more than 500 million rubles ($25,000) must also receive permission from the Antimonopoly Committee to register, a process which usually takes a month.
Despite the requirement for registering in three days, the decree confirms the necessity of obtaining separate permission from the Antimonopoly Committee.
The decree also raises the minimum charter capital of a joint-stock company from 100,000 rubles to 1,000 times the minimum wage, now 20,500 rubles, meaning a minimum capital of more than 20 million rubles. Other companies must have a charter capital of not less 100 times the minimum wage.
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