Russian prime minister declares support for private businesses a state priority
Speaking at the first meeting of the Government Commission on Regional Development on December 2 in Yaroslavl, with key Federal Capital members, regional governors and presidential representatives in seven Federal Districts in attendance, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called the support for private entrepreurship in the country one of the government’s top priority policy issues.
Specifically, the prime minister noted that, effective from 2009, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will get serious financial support from the state and a considerable reduction in the cumbersome red tape on issues concerning the SME operations throughout the country. “The development of businesses is, naturally, the strategic priority of the government’s policy,” he said. “This is why the priority of our actions is directed at keeping existing jobs, creating new ones, providing support for businesses and executing infrastructure projects, which are capable of yielding maximal returns, preferably, in the shortest possible time frames."
Quoting sociological and other public opinion surveys reports, the prime minister said that a high proportion of citizens, especially among the youth, want to try their abilities in business as owners of SMEs by chartering private companies. “Currently, there are about 1.15mln companies operating in the SME sector, which employ over 12mln people in the country,” he added. “At the end of the day, it is this category of the populace — who are purposeful and energetic — that will form the major part of the country’s middle-class citizens,” he noted. “This is why the government’s task in this sphere is to help these people make use of their capabilities to realize their objectives, create a reliable future for their families and create new jobs in the economy.”
To meet these objectives, the prime minister announced a list of new measures to support the SMEs, effective from next year. “A sum of 10.5bln.rubs will be disbursed for the support of the SMEs in 2009, while an additional sum of up to 30bln.rubs will be rerouted to the sector through the Development Bank,” he said. “Also, a raft of bills, aimed at drastically reducing nearly insurmountable administrative and other barriers in the government’s oversight policies in the SME segment of the economy, will be adopted by the Federal Parliament — the State Duma and Federation Council — in this autumn session.”
One of these bills, according to the prime minister, calls for the transition from the current compulsory system of strenuous procedures of incorporating companies in the SME segment to a mere notification format. In other words, individuals wishing to set up new businesses in the SME sector only have to simply notify the relevant government agencies of their decisions to set up companies, especially in such vital sectors as public eateries, retail, utility services and several others. “Other support measures for the SMEs include significant reduction of taxation, while the losses to the regional budgets from such drastic tax reductions will be compensated by the federal government,” the prime minister added.
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