Medvedev to protect small businesses
In yesterdays State Council session, newly elected Russian President Dmitrii Medvedev said that measures will be taken to free small businesses from the grip of control authorities.
Mr. Medvedev said that no Russian control authority will be allowed to conduct a control inspection of a small company before permission has been granted by court or prosecutors. It is believed that as much as ten percent of small businesses turnover end up in the pockets of control authorities, among them the fire inspectors, sanitary inspectors or police, newspaper Vedomosti reports. In the State Council meeting, Mr. Medvedev said that the control inspectors and their fines to small business are a kind legalized bribes. He believes there are as many as thirty bodies of control operating on the Russian federal level. In addition comes a number of regional control bodies. The meeting, which was the first State Council session chaired by Mr Medvedev, had the development of small businesses high on the agenda.
