Russia will completely eliminate the requirement for new business startups to get prior state approval, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, noting that Russian entrepreneurs still faced too many restrictions.
He said 20 types of businesses were currently allowed to start operations without state approval, but said the streamlined process would be expanded to cover the whole economy.
"It is too early to speak about authentic entrepreneurial freedom in Russia," Putin said in his annual address to the lower house of parliament on the work of the government.
"How can there be freedom when not so long ago we had 500 kinds of licensable activity, 78 percent of the products sold in Russia were subject to obligatory licensing," Putin said.
He added that the number of licensable activities had been cut to 74, and the number of products needing certification had decreased by 50 percent.
Vladimir Putin is giving an annual address on the government's work to the lower chamber of the Russian parliament. Under the Russian Constitution, the government is obliged to deliver annual reports to the State Duma.
MOSCOW, April 20 (RIA Novosti)
