MOSCOW, May 29 (RIA Novosti) - The state has increased its presence in the economy, a deputy economics minister said Monday in an interview with a government newspaper.
"Yes, indeed, the state has increased its presence in the economy, although there are no grounds so far to believe that the state is more effective than a private owner," Andrei Sharonov told Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
Sharonov said the state had to increase its regulating role in the economy, especially its judicial function, to protect business from hostile takeovers and the arbitrariness of functionaries, and also to protect citizens from the unfair treatment on the part of employers.
"The strengthening of the judicial system is a key aspect of the state's participation in the economy, no matter how strange this may sound," Sharonov said.
The deputy economics minister also said Russia had to rethink the structure of its economy and its place on the global market in relation to both government corporations and private companies.
"We can no longer afford competition that existed during the Soviet period. It produced excellent examples of aircraft but ruined us," Sharonov said.
The deputy economics minister also said the high level of monopolization in the Russian economy was an obstacle on the way to create an oil exchange in the country.
"Bourses are always based on real competition and the possibility to deliver exchange-traded commodities to a particular destination point," Sharonov said.
