Press Release, July 27, 2013

On July 26, Sergei Mitrokhin, candidate for the Mayor of Moscow and Chair of the YABLOKO party, held a meeting with entrepreneurs representing small businesses. The participants noted that the business environment considerably deteriorated in Moscow after the Acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin came into power in the Russian capital, moreover entrepreneurs have no possibility to defend themselves. It was proposed during the meeting to revive on YABLOKO’s basis the previously disbanded Public Expert Council for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses under the Mayor and the Moscow Government.

At the beginning of the meeting Sergey Mitrokhin explained why he had decided to conduct one of his first meetings within the campaign with owners of small businesses. “When a new Mayor [after Yury Luzkov] came, his first blow targeted exactly small business, and many of you have experienced this. Ousting of small businesses under the most decent pretexts was taking place in all sectors of the economy. In particular, the Public Expert Council for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses under the Mayor and the Moscow Government it was disbanded, and another structure was created – Head-Quarters for Protection of the Interests of Small and Medium-Scale Businesses, – however, its aims and goals changed abruptly. The previous council examined draft laws, and the new structure dealt only with complaints, which has been characteristic of the new Government of Moscow,” Mitrokhin said.

YABLOKO leader also noted that if he wins the mayoral election, the Public Expert Council would be restored with even more proxies. Meanwhile entrepreneurs proposed to create a council under YABLOKO. It was also decided that membership in the party was not required for working the council.

“We need a truly independent expert organisation where entrepreneurs could interact regardless of their political views. One of its most important tasks would be examination of draft laws and regulations of the Government of Moscow and the Moscow City Duma relating to business,” said Ilya Khandrikov, one of organisers of the meeting and Chair of the All-Russian Movement “For Honest Market “.

The participants of the meeting shared their problems and also spoke about the lack of protection of their rights and a virtually non-functioning judicial system.

Sergei Mitrokhin said that for the normalisation of the situation with small businesses four things should be done: “First, small business should be returned to the framework of law, in particular, the property right should be re-established. A dialogue between the business and the government as regards adoption of laws is also required. The authorities should stop acting in the interests of large monopolist networks, and vice versa support private entrepreneurs. Also one of the essential things is the separation of business from power”.