Small and medium-sized businesses in Russia expect guarantees of protection from Putin’s message
Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver his traditional message to the Russian parliament on Thursday, March 1. The head of the All-Russian Foundation “Serving Russia” Irina Yasakova is confident that this time the president will, first of all, focus on protecting small and medium-sized businesses from unreasonably fabricated criminal cases and numerous inspections.
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“I myself have more than once encountered a similar situation, when unfounded inspections and all kinds of “assaults” discredit the business and negatively affect the working atmosphere in the company. Consider that every such situation involving the use of force, especially in combination with a “mask show,” at least stops the growth of this business, and in fact very often destroys it,” says the public figure.
Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that the government develop specific measures to reduce the powers of regulatory authorities in business. The President believes that excessive activity of law enforcement agencies in this sector certainly harms the business climate, Yasakova recalled.
“Every year, almost 200 thousand criminal cases for economic crimes are initiated in the Russian Federation. Of these, 50 thousand reach the courts, another 15 thousand cases “fall apart” in the courts. Only 15% of trials end in convictions. At the same time, the absolute majority of those involved in these cases – about 83% – completely or partially lose their business during the proceedings. It turns out that in Russia there are mechanisms in place that completely discourage the desire to engage in private business, the social activist states.
Today, small businesses account for about 20% of the country's GDP, while their contribution to developed economies can exceed 50%. About 18 million people are employed in the small business sector in the Russian Federation and, as a rule, these are the most active and educated citizens,” says Yasakova.
In her opinion, in Russia there is a long overdue need to create some kind of new body, perhaps even a “Ministry of Small Business.” This will allow us to focus small business support tools within a “single window”.
Irina Yasakova sent her proposals to Vladimir Putin. The public figure expects that she will hear a response to these proposals in the presidential address. “We are confident that these are the words of our leader that the entire business community is waiting for,” she concluded.
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