There will be no development in Russia: there is no one to revive the economy

The cheerful reports from the authorities about the “growth” of our economy are not consistent with the annual ranking of global competitiveness of countries - The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, presented by experts from the World Economic Forum (WEF). In it, Russia dropped another 3 places and took 66th place. Below Vietnam and Uruguay. Having confirmed that Putin’s “stability” is a chimera, the price of which is equal to the cost of a barrel of oil on world markets.

Receiving a meager salary or fearing becoming unemployed, we usually don’t think about why there aren’t many enterprises near us that would offer us conditions for fruitful work and decent pay. The money allocated from the state budget for their creation is mostly stolen. No new enterprises are being built. The creation of state corporations, which turned out to be ineffective, only confirmed the axiom known from world experience that the public sector, in principle, cannot provide the country with a way out of such systemic crises.

The real path of transition from the degradation of Russia to its development lies through the general and immediate liberalization of all economic life. As the experience of other countries shows, only private initiative and competition can ensure the development and efficiency of production and create millions of jobs. But in our country, entrepreneurial initiative is actually punishable, and instead of competition, there is speculative chaos, multiplied by corruption.

Let's assume that some talented engineer from the collapsed State Research Institute decided to organize his own production enterprise. He will quickly discover that there are problems with the premises (obtaining a land plot and a building permit is incredibly difficult, and rent is expensive), exorbitant tariffs for connecting to heat and electricity networks, purchasing technological equipment, high cost of loans, licensing, etc. almost insurmountable.

Let us assume that he, by showing enthusiasm and using his savings, with the help of friends and relatives, overcame these problems. The enterprise started working. Do you think anyone will be grateful to him for creating new jobs and paying decent wages? Quite the opposite. Our social image of an entrepreneur is a grabber, a thief, an exploiter. It is clear that it is largely formed by representatives of the trade and intermediary business and, especially, by our oligarchs, who violate the norms of decency and morality. They received Soviet assets in troubled times, did not create enterprises, did not bear entrepreneurial risks, and for this reason cannot be considered entrepreneurs in the generally accepted sense. But in Russia they are associated with them.

The attitude of the authorities towards business is even worse and is based on the principle of presumption of guilt of the entrepreneur in any field of activity. Massive terror of entrepreneurs by an army of government officials from the tax inspectorate, the fire department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Rospotrebnadzor, Rostekhnadzor, Rostrud, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, etc. well known. When conducting any inspection, the company is initially considered guilty. No government agency leaves without “booty.” The tax inspectorate, from the experience of entrepreneurs, during an on-site inspection has the intention of imposing a fine of no less than hundreds of thousands of rubles. And if the company does not have tax violations, then it has to invent them. Otherwise, the audit is considered “poor quality”, and a higher tax authority will conduct it again. It’s better to pay right away what you’re supposed to pay. Cases when some government body offers help to an enterprise or at least takes an interest in its problems are from the realm of fantasy, or evidence of corruption in this body. The heads of districts and municipalities usually only ask for money to implement improvement projects under the banner of the United Russia party.

Under these conditions, the aforementioned talented engineer will rightly say: “Why do I need all these problems? It’s better for me to calmly work as an ordinary employee and be responsible only for myself. And let the management of the enterprise provide me with normal working conditions and a decent salary. After all, they are obliged to do this.” . Likewise, someone who knows how to bake pies or buns prefers to work as a baker, technologist... But creating your own bakery and shouldering the burden of all these problems and responsibilities is a shame.

We have very few people willing to engage in manufacturing business. The trade and services sector is a different matter. Such an enterprise is easier to create (often all that is required is a desk with a telephone) and more painlessly to liquidate.

The head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, Igor Artemyev, who was appointed in August 2009 as the head of the working group of the government commission for administrative reform, promised to make radical decisions to eliminate the problems of entrepreneurs. But for 2 years nothing radical has been proposed. 21 government orders have been adopted on minor issues, but most of them have not been implemented. And the effect of those implemented is more than compensated by new regulations that worsen the conditions for doing business in Russia.

Recently, the head of the administrative reform department of the FAS Russia, Lyudmila Solontsova, made a video message to entrepreneurs and asked them to fill out questionnaires to monitor the implementation of the decisions of the working group of the government commission. But WEF experts have already determined that in terms of the level of development of public administration, Russia ranks 128th (down by 10 positions over the year), in terms of complexity of doing business - 114th (down by 13 positions), etc. Including due to ineffective antimonopoly policy. A general assessment of the deterioration of business conditions in Russia, depending, among other things, on the effectiveness of the working group of the government commission, was given by WEF experts, but the details are not significant.

To reverse the negative trends in the country's economy, a set of radical measures is needed. First of all, it is necessary to secure business from the state. And this is impossible without changing the entire paradigm of the relationship between government and business.

It is necessary, not in words, but in deeds, to establish a presumption of good faith among entrepreneurs and, at the very least, to equalize their responsibility with government agencies. Now, for example, if a fine is unreasonably imposed on an enterprise and the court overturns it, then the government official does not risk anything. And if he didn’t cancel it, then the government official did a “good” job, brought income to the budget, and fulfilled the plan. In order to equalize the responsibility of entrepreneurs and government officials, it is possible to legally establish a mandatory collection from a government agency in favor of an enterprise of an amount equal to the fine canceled by the court. Then the zeal for fining will be moderated.

It is advisable to provide that if a government agency caused damage to an enterprise, and the court confirmed the illegality of its actions, then in order to compensate for this damage, the entrepreneur only needs to provide its justification. And recover this damage from the government agency if it does not prove its absence. Such responsibility will discourage government officials from unreasonably impeding business activity.

Of course, “the market will regulate everything” is economic nonsense. And the regulatory (not punitive!) role of the state should be strengthened. But until society and government authorities change their attitude towards entrepreneurship in the production sector, the degradation of the country’s economy will continue. Because there is no one to reverse this trend. There is no other driving force for the development of the country.