On October 21, 2020 the second part of the Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs was held in Moscow.
With the participation of members of the Government of the Russian Federation, Heads of key ministries, members of the Bureau of the RUIE's Board of Directors, the issues of improving the business climate, improving legislation in the social and labour sphere, mechanisms to support industrial companies, new and upgraded tools to stimulate investment activity and much more were discussed.
In his opening speech Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, marked the topics for consideration.
"Traditionally before we meet with the President of the Russian Federation on a number of business days, we held a 'government hour'. We plan to discuss some tactical and strategic areas of cooperation between business and government, including those related to minimising the impact of the new coronavirus infection on the Russian economy, increasing the effectiveness of measures to support industry and other sectors of the economy, stimulating business investment activity and creating conditions for post-crisis sustainable economic development," said Alexander Shokhin.
He noted, among the above areas, that several useful initiatives have been put forward by specialists of the Ministry of Labour for consideration by parliamentarians of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. These include revision of the minimum wage, expansion of electronic document circulation, including the introduction of an e-workbook for citizens, and development of distance work for Russians in the conditions of the spread of COVID-19.
Anton Kotyakov, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation,, emphasised that work with the population and business was particularly intense in the context of the coronavirus outbreak.
"We were required to take urgent and effective measures to regulate labour relations under the tougher conditions of the coronavirus crisis. It seems to me that by working together we were able to develop timely and relevant solutions. Thanks to the support measures we have taken, we were able to avoid an explosive growth in unemployment rates, as was the case in many Western countries. Against this background, a fairly wide range of business support measures have been taken. Insurance premiums for salaries exceeding the minimum wage were halved for SMEs," said Anton Kotyakov.
He specified that the number of registered Russians in employment centres is gradually decreasing, now there are 3 million 584 thousand people. Since the beginning of autumn, almost 600,000 more Russians have been employed than laid off.
"The number of people registered at the employment offices is also gradually decreasing. Today it is already 3,584,000 people.The number of unemployed citizens registered with the employment services has decreased by more than 100,000 compared to the peak period," said the Minister.   According to him, for six months the statistics have recorded an increase in unemployment. "In total, more than 180 billion rubles were allocated to support the unemployed citizens," added Anton Kotyakov.
"Today we have about 7% of employed citizens working remotely. Within our country it is about 3 million 700 thousand citizens. And the number of these citizens, even after all restrictive measures have been removed, in our understanding, will be significant. Therefore, it is important to be clear about the issues that arise between the employer and the employee in organizing remote employment," said the Minister.
Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov said that the deadline for introducing mandatory product labelling requirements will not be postponed, but it is possible to make changes to the regulatory framework for technical procedures.
"Literally over the past few days, with the intensity of supply and purchase of antiviral drugs, we have seen certain roughness of work. I can assure you, that we are ready to adjust the regulatory framework promptly and in accordance with the requirements of today's time, but to postpone cardinally the terms of this or that nomenclature, frankly speaking, neither the country's leadership nor our agency have such an attitude," he said. According to the Minister, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is ready to provide assistance in the introduction of marking in technical terms, including the issuance of soft loans to enterprises. "We are ready to adjust the regulatory acts, but not concerning the postponement of terms, but concerning the correction of the technical procedure itself," - said Denis Manturov.
The Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov noted in his speech that the restart of the investment cycle is the basis for future economic growth and the implementation of national goals set by President Vladimir Putin. "A great deal of attention is being paid to this as part of the Unified Plan for Achieving Russia's National Development Goals for the period up to 2024 and for the planned period up to 2030, which is currently under study," he emphasised.
At present, the task is to adapt and adjust all the mechanisms created in recent years. 
One of the key such instruments is the Capital Protection and Promotion Agreements (CPPA). "To date, we have 18 applications for 900 billion roubles. According to those investment projects which are already offered, it is planned to create 38 thousand new workplaces, - he has informed. - The number of applications grows every day".
Maxim Reshetnikov called NWPC "a really breakthrough mechanism that allows to stabilize the basic conditions for the implementation of projects, primarily in the tax area, land use, urban development, government support measures". "At the same time, when discussing specific projects, we understand that there is a request from business to expand the conditions that will stabilise. In particular, there is a powerful request to stabilise the taxation conditions for mineral extraction," he said. The second innovation related to the NWPC mechanism is the possibility for investors to build infrastructure both directly necessary for the implementation of investment projects and related infrastructure, with subsequent compensation of costs from taxes that will be charged in connection with the project and will go to the regional and federal budget.
Maxim Reshetnikov also drew attention to the fact that the conclusion of the NWPC will take place according to the application procedure. "There will be no selection mechanisms. All those who have applied and meet the established criteria will automatically have the opportunity to sign the SPPC," he said. As of next year, the task is to enable the regions to use this mechanism, and all the necessary decisions are prepared for that," added the Minister.
The mechanism of public-private partnership has also proved to be in demand: as of today 3.3 thousand concessions for 2 trillion roubles are being implemented in the country, Maxim Reshetnikov added. "Despite the difficulties and peculiarities of this year, since the beginning of the year 100 concessions and PPP projects have been concluded for a total investment of 300 billion rubles," he said. - We expect that in the next five years the mechanism of concessions and PPPs will be able to attract 1 trillion rubles of additional investment".
In addition, the mechanism of perpetual bonds, green and infrastructure bonds is being developed. A separate topic is the regional agenda, where the key issue is modernization of investment tax deduction. The Minister invited RSPP members to work together to improve this instrument.
 
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, addressing the participants of the Congress via VCNS, noted that the companies they represent are systemically important. "You know in your business practice, you feel the challenges facing both the national economy and global markets. I note that the processes of global economic recovery - you know this well - are still extremely unstable. Moreover, it may face new problems," the President said. He said that in Russia and in many other countries the number of people falling ill with coronavirus is growing, the key message of the Russian authorities during the coronavirus pandemic is the protection of life and health.
"Protecting people's lives and health must always be at the centre of attention. This is the key message of all our work during the epidemic. I would like to tell you how your companies implement measures to protect employees from the risks of the epidemic and what is being done to protect their health," said Vladimir Putin. According to him, it is particularly important now to provide "employment and income for citizens".
"Let me remind you, that we have already gained experience in supporting the country's largest systemically important enterprises and key sectors of the national economy. Here we have construction, light industry, automotive industry, transport and communications, where millions of our citizens work. We prepared and launched these support mechanisms for business and labour teams this spring in direct dialogue with entrepreneurs and leading business associations, including the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs," said Vladimir Putin.
"This is very important for solving current tasks, but at the same time, of course, we must not forget about prospective development, about increasing capital investments, which determine the future of enterprises, companies and their market position. We will also discuss what are the problems here today," concluded the President.
Members of the Executive Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs took part in the work of the Congress from the FBA EAC:
 
 
Alexander Murychev, Chairman of the Board of the FBA EAC, Executive Vice-President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs;
 
Anatoly Tkachuk, President of FBA EAC, President of GC "RUSTITAN". 
 
 
 
Oleg Berezovoy, General Director of FBA EAC.