Sergey Katyrin: Russian Chamber of Commerce actively cooperates with South Caucasus countries

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation maintains strong links with their counterparts in the countries of the South Caucasus, and there are no difficulties in their interaction, the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia, Sergey Katyrin, said answering a question from Vestnik Kavkaza during a press conference titled 'What business can do and what business needs in times of crisis' at the international multimedia press center of Russia Today.

Speaking about the cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce of Azerbaijan, he noted that after the death of the previous president of the Chamber they have not yet succeeded in fully restoring the old ties with the new leadership. "The leaders of the chambers of commerce of the CIS countries meet at least once a year. The last such meeting took place in Armenia and our Azerbaijani colleague missed it, but I think that soon we will meet," the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia hopes.

"We have a very close contact with Armenia. We regularly meet with the president of the Chamber of Armenia. We also had very good contacts with Georgia, before its management was changed, we have repeatedly met in Minsk and Moscow. I think that we will soon get acquainted with the new leadership," Katyrin said.

"We have no problems in this regard with any Chamber and I hope that we won't have," he stressed.

Katyrin also said that the Russian Chamber of Commerce is actively working with the republics of the North Caucasus. "We have projects which are selected by our colleagues in the Caucasus, for example, in Stavropol and Ossetia. In general, projects are selected by all the chambers, including in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Some of them are under examination now. I hope that they will be implemented, including through the Fund for Industrial Development," he said.

"Maybe we treat our colleagues from the North Caucasus and their projects even more carefully than anyone else. But for them, it is not easy to create projects. For example, the Industrial Development Fund considers only projects related to industries in which at least 20% of the equity has already been invested. Unfortunately, the Caucasian republics have not so many opportunities in terms of industry. Therefore, there are not so many proposals, but they still exist," the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia concluded.

During the press conference he also said that the Chamber of Commerce collects information about business issues from all over Russia and seeks to resolve issues hindering the development of entrepreneurship, and the main focus is on the fight against corruption.

"We are working with the Ministry of Economy very seriously on the issue of public procurement and inspection. This is an extremely complex issue," Katyrin said.

CCI President mentioned another problem complicating doing business in Russia – existing separately from the tax system, the system of fees and charges.

"We propose to adopt a law which will determine the establishment of such fees and charges. We need a register of such non-tax payments so that the same officials would know the real fiscal burden on business. It must be imposed by the Ministry of Finance. We believe that no taxes or fees can be charged after," Katyrin noted.

According to him, a list of those who are responsible for fees must also be ordered. He also praised the work of the Industrial Development Fund.

The head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Central Federal District, President of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Belgorod region, Valery Skrug, recalled that in the current difficult period small businesses should be allowed to grow, in order to achieve a system of self-employment in the country.

The chairman of the committee for the development of private entrepreneurship, small and medium-sized businesses, Elena Dybova, spoke about a system called 'Navigator of Success', which will allow businessmen to quickly obtain comprehensive information on the legal framework for their activities. "One of the main problems today is a huge number of legislative acts. We have analyzed it and applied to the federal chamber to create such a service, which would help small businesses. It has been successfully launched," she said.

"It is enough to register on the site of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and every two weeks you will receive clear and concise information, as well as a reminder of when you should make timely payments. There is hope that this project will give a breath of fresh air to entrepreneurs and eliminate the need to spend time on their paperwork," Elena Dybova concluded.