Russian business dogged by red-tape

Despite a highly-educated workforce and growing consumer confidence, Russia continues to suffer from bureaucracy and corruption. Russia’s newly appointed Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said earlier this month that one of her top prioritie

It takes on average 29 days to launch a new business in Russia. That’s compared to less than a week in the United States and more than five months in Congo.

“I believe the basis for Russia's continued economic growth is private investment. State investment should be directed at building the infrastructure and creating comfortable conditions for private businesses to invest their money,” she said.

Russia dropped 10 spots to 106 on the World Bank's list of business environments in 178 countries.

Several serious hurdles are still dogging new businesses in Russia.

“It is difficult to obtain business licenses in Russia, multiple layers of bureaucracy, many different agencies are involved – you need to go and ask for the same documents in several different places,” said Simeon Djankov, World Bank expert.

Other reports also name unclear dispute settlements, property rights and product certification guidelines as the issues that should be solved.