19.05.2008 Ðîññèÿ, Ìîñêâà.
Ïðåçèäåíò Ðîññèè Äìèòðèé Ìåäâåäåâ âî âðåìÿ ñîâåùåíèÿ ïî ïðîáëåìàì ïðîòèâîäåéñòâèÿ êîððóïöèè.
19.05.2008 Russia, Moscow.
[English translation in progress (2)] The president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev during ñîâåùåíèÿ on problems of counteraction of corruption.
Photo: Alexander Miridonov
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“We Get Information from the Private Sector Directly”
Svetlana Bagaudinova, a private sector development expert with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), comments on Russia’s low rating in the World Bank’s report Doing Business-2009. Ms Bagaudinova is the co-author of the report.
“According to the Doing Business-2009 survey, Azerbaijan turned out the leader among reformist states in 2007-2008. What accounts for the republic’s advance?”
“Azerbaijan has done quite a job aimed to improve the investment climate. The government took a decision to diversify the economy. The thing oil production accounts for an 80% share of the state budget. Also, the government decided to develop alternative branches with a focus on SMBs. It would be wrong to state that the government’s objective was ranking higher in the report. Rather, this improvement is in line with a broader scope of regulative reforms.”
“The Russian government took similar decisions. However, the country’s position only gets lower.”
“I wouldn’t say that Russia has made a step back. Rather, it’s other states that have outdone it. It hasn’t been worse in Russia, but we haven’t spotted significant reforms, which would influence our indicators within three years. There were minor improvements. But in those regulatory spheres we take into account, there has been no palpable shift yet.”
“Is it the only explanation of the assumption that, according to the rating, it’s easier to do business in Kyrgyzstan than in Russia?”
“Our methods are quite narrow. We examine a local company – an SMB getting no foreign investments and located in the country’s largest city. In these terms, there are two problematic areas in Russia, which don’t let the country develop. These are getting building permits and trans-border trade. The former has been discussed many times. The sphere is over-regulated and tricky. Comparing this indicator with Kyrgyzstan, which has recently introduced “the single office” to issue building permits, we should say that it’s easier to get such permits in Kyrgyzstan and Belarus. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that the overall investment climate in Kyrgyzstan is better. We do not take the macroeconomic situation into consideration. Nor do we pay attention to the crime rate and the proximity to the major marketing outlets. We consider a narrow regulatory sphere, in which a number of its neighbors leave Russia behind.”
“In 2008 as Dmitry Medvedev was elected President, the government endorsed a cluster of SMB laws, and the President signed an anti-corruption plan. Don’t you think it relevant?”
“We consider the situation in a country basing on an ordinary pattern. It means we describe the situation and estimate the time, procedures and costs to improve it, be it starting a business, transferring right of ownership, getting permits and so forth. We usually contact practicing lawyers, who carry out a great deal of such operations annually. We get information from the private sector directly, which, unfortunately, hasn’t noticed any positive changes so far. When a law is passed, you usually have to wait another two or three years for subordinate legislation to be enacted. Perhaps it is one of the reasons why we can’t register any concrete effect of the SMBs law in our report.”
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 10, 2008
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