Page 33 - RusRPTSept20

Ingushetia showed the highest dynamics of growth in losses: in March-May 2020, local business lost “only” RUB1.5bn, compared to last spring, the loss increased by 3260%, or more than 33 times. The top ten anti-leaders on this indicator also included:
Chechnya - minus 984%;
Nenets Autonomous Okrug - minus 324%; Amur Region - minus 323%;
Crimea - minus 315%;
Jewish Autonomous Region - minus 168%; Komi - minus 159%;
Sevastopol - minus 159%;
Tomsk region - minus 153%;
North Ossetia - minus 153%;
Tuva - minus 138%.
Source: RBK
The Russian government is preparing to introduce a unified system of financial reporting for State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), in order to better control the implementation of budget-sponsored investment programmes, Kommersant daily reported on August 28. As followed by bne IntelliNews, prior to the eruption of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the newly appointed government of trusted technocrat Mikhail Mishustin was seen as having a mandate for tight supervision of the National Projects spending spree. Reportedly, the Finance Ministry is now preparing a bill that would oblige SOEs and their subsidiaries to report on how the granted funds contribute to the implementation of National Projects and other state spending programmes.
The Russian government has no idea how many state-owned enterprises (SOEs) there are, a new report from the Audit Chamber argues.
Data on the number of SOEs from Rosimushestvo, Rosstat, and the Federal Tax Service differ widely, with figures ranging from under 1,000 to over 1,600 (see chart below).
Furthermore, information about these companies is almost never analyzed. In reports to the government, Russia’s economy ministry only evaluates the health of the ten largest state-owned firms. This means that over 90% of Russian state-owned JSCs operate in a “grey zone,” in which their activities are largely unknown.
Liberal Russian economists have long argued that the state’s dominant role in the economy has hindered the development of competitive and innovative firms. However, the size of the public sector makes it impossible to quickly reduce, so the government should work to increase the efficiency of state enterprises.
This will be difficult to do, the Audit Chamber argues, when the government has such a loose grasp on the presence and activities of the firms themselves.
33 RUSSIA Country Report September 2020 www.intellinews.com