During the July 11 meeting, Mikhail Abyzov spoke about the work done by Open Government experts last year and outlined the main priorities for the near term.
This year the Expert Council was created under the Russian Government, and will include over 200 permanent experts and nearly 300 invited specialists. The experts have already reviewed more than 30 draft laws, and a dozen state programmes and concepts. According to the Minister, the Council will soon be expanded to include representatives of the Russian regions.
The Minister highlighted improvements in how government agencies perform supervisory functions, which will make it easier to do business in Russia, while the adoption of the law on public-private partnership will form a solid foundation for further development in this field, which is of crucial importance for business.
The Minister also mentioned how important the Open Government’s work to improve oversight of government spending, procurement and investment is for business. There are plans to develop and implement a comprehensive concept for government spending, while the system of public oversight of investment programmes developed and implemented by natural monopolies operating on the Russian market will be put in place by August 15.
Mr Abyzov also mentioned the need to promote social entrepreneurship. The relevant figures in this sphere are eight times lower in Russia than in Europe and fifteen times lower than in the United States. The overall level of social entrepreneurship in Russian is 12 times lower than in developed countries.
Source: Open Government
