OREANDA-NEWS. December 28, 2011. In his introductory speech Sergey Katyrin reminded reporters that the CCI of Russia had its 6-th Congress in March 2011 to approve priorities of the CCI of Russia in 2011-2015.

Summing up the CCI of Russia results in 2011, Sergey Katyrin said that the Chamber evaluated about 160 draft laws. A substantial part of its comments and proposals was accepted and used. The CCI of Russia maintains good working contacts with the State Duma and the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly. It evaluated the regulatory effect of 60 by-laws for the Russian Economic Development Ministry. Unfortunately, little time is given for such appraisals; a profound analysis requires the broad participation of regional experts, and this is sometimes impossible when deadlines are tight.

Support to small and medium companies, especially those innovative, is a strategic task of the CCI of Russia. The enlarged session of the CCI of Russia Board held on October 28 in the attendance of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin defined areas of the development of small and medium business based on the maximal account of businessmen’s wishes. Now it is time to implement the plans, step by step, along the economic development.

A unified databank joining all the Chambers of Commerce and Industry is of paramount importance: it will provide business with the access to the newest and most complete information about issues of interest. We are actively working on this, Sergey Katyrin stressed.

The CCI of Russia Head spoke about the Chamber’s effort to draw investments into Russia and touched upon further development of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and the formation of the Common Economic Space.

The business community is asking many questions about the Russian upcoming accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Sergey Katyrin said. It is necessary to analyze possible risks to every industry and to plan ways of their minimization together with businessmen.

Sergey Katyrin also commented on international cooperation of the Chamber and the opening of new representative offices of the CCI of Russia abroad.

Our main goal, he said, is a more active and fuller response to business needs for the sake of the sustainable and more dynamic development of the national economy, the creation of new jobs and the promotion of innovations.

Sergey Katyrin answered numerous questions of journalists. The CCI of Russia Head named the light industry, agriculture, the financial sector and some others as the branches to face the biggest risks from the Russian entry into the WTO. However, he said, certain and, in some cases, rather serious precautions are planned; there is a seven-year transitional period, so we may hope that the entry into the WTO will not become “shock therapy”.

On the whole, our negotiators accomplished their mission; the terms of Russian entry into the WTO are much better than those granted to other countries, Sergey Katyrin said. Yet any theory is tested with practice: only it can show what the WTO membership will bring to our country.

Sergey Katyrin also commented on the accessibility of information to business. Entrepreneurs experience big problems with the access to information they need for doing business, he said. The information provided by ministries and departments leaves much to be desired, and the Economic Development Ministry has the highest indicator – businessmen can find answers to a fourth of questions related to this ministry. Regularly, the indicator varies from 7% to 9%. That is a serious question and a serious problem for business, which needs to be resolved, Sergey Katyrin said.

Concerning support to small companies, Sergey Katyrin affirmed the importance of chains of small companies grouping around large plants. In the West some industrial giants “are accompanied” with tens of thousands of small companies, which serve particular needs of the large plant, such as the production of spares. That creates competition, leads to higher quality and new jobs as well as unbinds a big plant from the solution of small problems. The only reason why no such small companies open here is that the giant wants to have nothing in common with companies, which are exempt from VAT. Ways to solve this problem should be found.

Journalists also asked Sergey Katyrin about ways to bolster innovations in Russia, about the Customs Union, new possibilities of the business access to international markets, patents, the future of unified imputed income tax, incentives for business investing in fixed assets, i.e. modernization, etc.