MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. More bold efforts on business quittance are needed in times of trouble, the former Russian finance minister and the head of the Civic Initiatives Committee think tank, Aleksei Kudrin, told the Business FM radio station on Friday.
Kudrin recalled that despite the pledges by officials to keep the burden on business unchanged, taxes in Russia have increased since the start of the year. For instance, insurance fees went up and a new sales tax has been introduced. There are also planned, earlier adopted decisions to raise excise duties, “assuming that business is having a much harder time now,” Kudrin said.
“A number of measures implemented by the government, without revising its old decisions, have brought about a worsening of the situation in business since the beginning of this year. That’s why more bold moves are needed on business quittance. In his address [Russian President] Putin mentioned the priority of business and entrepreneurship in the coming few years, but we don’t see it in government’s moves yet, just some talking so far,” he said.