MOSCOW, RUSSIA - "Vedomosti" together with Russian Public Non-Governmental Organization for Small and Medium Entrepreneurship ”Support of Russia” (Opora Rossii) with the support of the Eurasian Economic Commission hosted the VI Annual Forum on the development of small and midsize business, “Small and medium enterprises: prospects for growth in the Common Economic Space”. The event was attended by Deputy Director of the Special Project of World Trade Center in Moscow “Russia in the WTO” Maxim Vorobiev, who addressed the roundtable on “Transport, logistics, customs regulation for SMEs within the Common Economic Space”. 

In his speech, Maxim Vorobiev marked that key objective of the special project “Russia in the WTO” is to assist domestic business in adaptation process, when the business community does not always provide the necessary feedback. “It’s been two years since we became full-fledged members of the WTO, but one way or another small and medium-sized enterprises often seem to believe that they have nothing to do with it, that it's not their problem”, - complained the representative of WTC Moscow.

Maxim Vorobiev urged business to explore the tools offered by the WTO legal system. “There are a lot of issues that have been resolved within the WTO. We can use the experience that has already been gained by this international association. Even though Russia the only one out of three CU countries only that has joined the WTO, in fact, the Treaty on the functioning of the Customs Union in the framework of the multilateral trading system was adopted in May 2011. This agreement basically implied that we will work alongsidewith the World Trade Organization regulations,” - said Vorobyov.

According to the expert, the agreement on trade facilitation, signed on Bali in 2013, will come into effect only on July 31, 2015, but in transition period towards a new level of integration the Russian business should put the most efforts in using its opportunities.
“As part of the special project WTC in Moscow “Russia in the WTO” we develop certain recommendations for adaptation of the WTO regulations for business, as well as for government agencies at the federal and regional levels. We use the most successful global practices to promote small and medium enterprises”, - said Maxim Vorobyov.

WTC representative assured that the small and medium entrepreneurs can always count on the advice of experts from WTC Moscow's Special Project “Russia in the WTO”. “We may seal off the borders, stew in our own juice and continue to think that nobody is interested in our products. But we have to remember that nowadays, if the goods are not popular on foreign markets, they are not competitive on the domestic one as well. The first stage of the project includes preparation of firm basis for entrepreneurs that will help them to cater accordant with new conditions. To achieve the purpose we conduct various educational activities, seminars and conferences on Russia's membership in the World Trade Organization,” - said Vorobyov.

Roundtable moderator, Chairman of the Foreign Trade and Customs Committee of “Support of Russia” Leonid Lozbenko also emphasized that small and medium companies are the most innovative institutes, quickly adapting to the new conditions of market, yet at the same time they are in urgent need of broad educational and awareness campaign. “These business streams will soon become the most important ones, so it is crucial to carry out a solid piece of work to prepare small and medium enterprises to work within the WTO. That concerns not only Russia but also Belarus and Kazakhstan”, - he said.

Minister in charge of Customs Cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Vladimir Goshin in turn noted the new customs legislation, which will start operating from 2015. According to him, the text of Eurasian Union Custom Code is 60% ready. The document aims to simplify customs regulations through automation of all systems and prioritizing the electronic declaration. “Paper media will be used only in cases where it is impossible to work without them, that is to say only 1-2% of all cases,” – noted Goshin.

Deputy Chief of the Office of Customs Statistics and Analysis of the Federal Customs Service Yuri Moiseyev also noted that the Russian system of customs regulation is on the peak of implementation information technologies, which greatly facilitates the work processes for small and medium businesses. “Starting January 1, we fully completed the introduction of the electronic declaration procedure, furthermore in 2013 more than 4 million declarations were filed in via the Internet. Thus, almost 94% of market participants already use this form of declaration. This process is systemized not only in Russia but in the Customs Union in general”, - the official said.

Background Information

Annual Forum on development of small and medium-sized businesses, organized by "Vedomosti" newspaper, is a series of events where entrepreneurs can meet annually with each other, with representatives of government agencies, with analysts and journalists, share experiences, find new contacts and ideas for business development. In 2009-2013 sent a series of proposals from business representatives were sent to the Russian Government as follow-up to the Fora. The suggestions have already been partly implemented as special commissions.

For more information on this article, please contact Yulia S. Ivanova, WTC Moscow, at YSIvanova@wtcmoscow.ru.