Russian President Vladimir Putin calls to reduce the number of authorities supervising foreign economic activity on the border and let the goods pass through a ‘one stop shop’ system.
“The number of agencies ‘sitting’ on the border should be reduced and everything should be done via a ‘one stop shop’,” the President said at the plenary session of the congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE). “Various kinds of burdens should be lowered and this may particularly be achieved by organizing electronic recording of goods movement,” Putin said.
Administration matters are highly important and many problems exist in this regard, the head of state said. Further to the need of reducing the pool of agencies implementing goods clearance across the border, lack of an electronic system for goods movement recording is also challenging. “Other [issues] are in place but these are the primary ones,” Putin said.
Putin calls to outline areas for cutting state expenditures in order to reduce fiscal burden
The Russian government has to outline sectors for cutting state expenditures if the fiscal burden reduction is in question, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
“We’ve imposed a moratorium on changes of the level of tax burden on business till 2018. Obviously, entrepreneurs need a long planning corridor and extra funds for development. It’s fine if the Finance Ministry says a reduction of the fiscal burden may even be considered, but in this case the government has to outline the areas where state liabilities to citizens could be removed, which items could be reduced – retirement benefits, subsidies, spending on defense and security,” Putin said.
According to the President, the state is always thinking “about ways to reduce the fiscal burden” despite certain budget restrictions, which “always exist, at all times, both amid high and low oil prices.” “The question is that this is a difficult decision to take,” Putin added.
The Russian authorities are facing a task of “creating a comfortable environment for all right-minded businessmen, protecting people’s ownership rights, making the norms of law more neutral and fairer regarding all those doing business,” President said, adding that the “tax and fiscal policy should be based on the concept of justice.”
Russia to hold B20 on sidelines of St Pete Economic Forum jointly with China in 2016
Russia pays great attention to the work in the Business 20 format and this year it will hold its meeting on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum which is to be held in June, President Vladimir Putin went on to say.
“This year, Business 20 will be held again on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, we will hold it together with our Chinese partners, who now chair the G20,” – Putin said
The President praised the activities of the RUIE in the framework of international organizations, as well as the promotion of Russian interests in the G20.
Putin also touched upon the issues that were discussed at a meeting of the working group on monitoring of legal practices in the field of entrepreneurship. This meeting was held on Wednesday.
According to Putin, the participants of the meeting discussed how to expand the number of legal grounds for liberation from criminal responsibility for economic crimes. In particular they discussed raising the minimum threshold of damage, which serves as the basis for determination of a size of embezzlement.
The third important issue discussed by the working group was a possibility for a notary to contact entrepreneurs who were detained or are under house arrest, the President said.
Putin recalled that the representative of the prosecutor’s office said that this should concern not only entrepreneurs, but also of any citizens involved.
“Obviously this is correct, but it is especially important for the business community,” Putin said.
Putin stressed that it is important to create a comfortable environment for law-abiding businesses, protect the rights and property of the people, and make legal norms more objective and fair for everyone who honestly conducts business activities.
Putin urges business to join preparations to Worldskills Championship in Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged the country’s entrepreneurs to actively join preparations to the Worldskills Championship, which is due to be held in Russia’s Kazan in 2019.
“Business has become a trusted partner of the state in improving the staff training system,” Putin said at the Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Thursday. “I would stress a particular interest of companies to professional training contests, which are held not only at the national level but also in companies themselves. I would also ask to more actively join the preparations of our team to the Worldskills Championship, which is due in Kazan in 2019,” President said, adding that such contests help estimate the attainment level of engineers, factory workers, and focus on the most up-to-date standards.”