St.Petersburg, June 17 (Interfax) - High corruption is the main barrier slowing investment in the Russian economy, leading Russian and foreign businessmen said in a poll, held at a business lunch, organized by Sberbank during the St.Petersburg International Investment Forum.
The issue discussed was whether becoming competitive was a feasible mission for Russia.
The business lunch brought together key representatives of the economic block in the Russian government, among them First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. The participants were asked to select one of the six listed reasons for Russia’s hampered economic development.
More than 45% of the businessmen cited high corruption and, second, low competition.
Some 17% of the businessmen polled quoted this particular factor as a serious barrier for their operations in Russia. Among other reasons cited was poor quality of state governance, a remark that made Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin laugh.
Sixty-nine percent of businessmen said Russia was in need of a reform of the judiciary and fight against corruption, followed by the need for the government to enter the formation of an innovative eco-system on the list of its priorities, a new recommendation on the part of the business community.
Members of the Russian government were welcome to take part in the poll and probably did.
