Joint meeting of the Security Council of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Economic Council under the regional Cabinet of Ministers discusses issues of improving the investment climate and reducing administrative pressure on business

On September 4, in Kazan, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov held a joint meeting of the Security Council of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Economic Council under the regional Cabinet of Ministers.

Issues of improving the investment environment in the republic and reducing administrative pressure on business were on the agenda.

“We have a clear understanding in the republic that attracting investments is the pledge of our development and we are working successfully in this area. We implement measures to facilitate the process to make engineering infrastructure accessible for investors, reduce the time necessary for issuing permission documentation and obtaining registration, develop the “single window” principle for rendering state services, pay attention to support small-sized businesses. This work is producing positive results. However, there are some problems in these areas,” Minnikhanov said.

He continued that despite the fact that Tatarstan has topped the National Investment Climate Rating of Russian regions for three years, a number of indicators require additional attention.

According to him, the increased share of companies that have faced incidents of pressure from the authorities or natural monopolies is of special concern.

In particular, he said that the number of such companies has increased by 12 per cent (from 15.36 per cent in 2016 to 27.10 per cent in 2017). This trend is also noticeable in other surveys conducted in the republic.

Minnikhanov noted that according to expert estimates, Russia has more than two million mandatory requirements. According to the Higher School of Economics, the state's cost for monitoring measures makes 1.5 per cent of GDP, and the burden on businesses from meeting redundant requirements is up to 6 per cent of GDP.

Measures are needed to improve the environment for doing business, especially in terms of reducing administrative barriers, eliminating excessive pressure on business, he went on to say.

Minnikhanov stressed that this problem is typical both for the republic and for the country as a whole.

He further reminded that a plan of measures to improve monitoring and supervision activities for 2016-2017 was adopted in Russia. This document is aimed to make control "smart” and improve its quality and increase the public security on the on hand and reduce the burden on entrepreneurs on the other hand.

Minnikhanov stressed that the prosecutor's office should constantly monitor the progress of the reform of control and supervision activities.

Tatarstan President also reminded that the main purpose of today's meeting is to take measures aimed to improve the quality of the business environment, including the elimination of unreasonable and excessive pressure on business and the reduction of administrative barriers.

Minister of Economy of the republic Artem Zdunov made a keynote report at the meeting.