Small business in Russia

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov proposed to set up a ministry for support of small and medium-sized businesses. He made such a statement at the conference "Small Business in Russia's Central Federal District" underway in Moscow. According to Luzhkov, the new structure should, in particular, settle the problem of small business protection, since other ministries do not tackle these issues properly. Georgy Poltavchenko, Russian president's plenipotentiary representative in the Central federal district, who also attended the conference, expressed an opinion that the problem of support for and development of small business should be solved primarily at the regional level. At the federal level a committee for support of small and medium-sized businesses can be set up, he said. "I'm prepared to consider this issue," the plenipotentiary representative stated. Currently there are about 880,000 small businesses in Russia which provide employment for 7.5 million people. The Central federal district accounts for one-third of the all-Russian small business potential.

Visit www.rian.ru for RIA 'Novosti' news.