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World Bank Positive on Doing Business in Russia Ahead of Forum
- JRL 2012-109

The World Bank boosted Russia four slots in its annual rankings on the ease of doing business, setting a positive tone ahead of this week's St. Petersburg International Economic Forum where an analysis of 30 Russian regions will be presented.

Cash, Coins, Line Graph
The upward trajectory of Russia's rating is in line with goals expressed by then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in February, when the leader said the country should strive to break into the top 20 of the Doing Business ranking. Russia ranked 120th of 183 countries in the 2012 ranking.

Officials recognize there is a lot of work to be done but are optimistic about the potential for the future.

"We went from 124 to 120, this place really is shameful," Deputy Economic Minister Stanislav Voskresensky said, RIA-Novosti reported.

"But according to the World Bank we are among the 25 countries that made the most progress over the past year on changing the regulatory environment," he added.

The deputy minister blamed the "imbalance" of Russia's rating on the gap between the creation of effective laws and their enforcement in practice. He added that many new laws were created in the past year, though their positive effects are not yet reflected in the rating.

The Doing Business ranking has been released by the World Bank since 2003 and ranks 183 countries on 11 categories ranging from starting a business to bankruptcy policy, with the scores then combined to get an overall ranking.

Russia performs most poorly on obtaining a permanent electricity connection ­ for which it ranks dead last at 183 ­ because of the grueling 281-day process of connecting to the grid and high associated fees.

Russia's highest ranking relative to other countries is in enforcing contracts, for which it takes 13th place. Russia rose six spots in its three most improved categories, registering property, trading across borders and enforcing contracts.

Keywords: Russia, Economy, Business - Russian News - Russia

The World Bank boosted Russia four slots in its annual rankings on the ease of doing business, setting a positive tone ahead of this week's St. Petersburg International Economic Forum where an analysis of 30 Russian regions will be presented.

Cash, Coins, Line Graph
The upward trajectory of Russia's rating is in line with goals expressed by then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in February, when the leader said the country should strive to break into the top 20 of the Doing Business ranking. Russia ranked 120th of 183 countries in the 2012 ranking.

Officials recognize there is a lot of work to be done but are optimistic about the potential for the future.

"We went from 124 to 120, this place really is shameful," Deputy Economic Minister Stanislav Voskresensky said, RIA-Novosti reported.

"But according to the World Bank we are among the 25 countries that made the most progress over the past year on changing the regulatory environment," he added.

The deputy minister blamed the "imbalance" of Russia's rating on the gap between the creation of effective laws and their enforcement in practice. He added that many new laws were created in the past year, though their positive effects are not yet reflected in the rating.

The Doing Business ranking has been released by the World Bank since 2003 and ranks 183 countries on 11 categories ranging from starting a business to bankruptcy policy, with the scores then combined to get an overall ranking.

Russia performs most poorly on obtaining a permanent electricity connection ­ for which it ranks dead last at 183 ­ because of the grueling 281-day process of connecting to the grid and high associated fees.

Russia's highest ranking relative to other countries is in enforcing contracts, for which it takes 13th place. Russia rose six spots in its three most improved categories, registering property, trading across borders and enforcing contracts.


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