Russian entrepreneurs spoke about their experience

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that business inspections in 2022 were reduced to a historic low. “Kommersant” asked entrepreneurs if they felt it for themselves.

Sergei Gabestro, CEO of Electronic Trading Systems JSC:

– Definitely. We did not have field, enhanced inspections last year. Well, cameral – they always went and go, this is a common process. It seems to me that, in general, the burden on medium and small businesses has become less. I especially feel it in our business in the Crimea.

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Dmitry Levitsky, restaurateur, founder of the Hurma group of companies:

– I did not notice any global reduction. But we had very few of them. They can come to a single restaurant twice a year, but we are not as much and nightmare as it is commonly believed.

If you work correctly and do not break anything, then checks are not terrible. In 90% of cases, tax audits go smoothly. So the absence of checks is good for those who work poorly, and those who work well do not even notice it.

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Pavel Kulakov, CEO, founder of the Oxygen data center network:

“We had virtually no inspections last year. We are residents of a special economic zone, and dust particles are blown off of us. Our project is built according to the most stringent standards in compliance with the regulations and requirements of regulators. At different levels, there is an understanding of the importance of what we are doing, and we can see the intention to help and support what is more relevant for the country than ever.

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Narine Beglyarova, Managing partner of the consulting company Sona Private Consulting:

— After analyzing the number of requests from clients to support tax audits, we came to the conclusion that the number of audits has decreased, but the quality of their conduct has clearly increased.

The Federal Tax Service has taken a course to increase the volume of additional charges based on their results. In 2022, only 9,388 field tax audits were conducted, which is three times less compared to 2015, but the number of additional assessments based on the results was 95.66%. And the total amount of additional charges is 685.7 billion rubles.

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Irina Zharova-Wright, Managing Partner of Seseqar Investment Group:

— Any tax audit, field or cameral, is a serious matter. To a certain extent, it almost paralyzes the work of the company. Now everything is reasonably happening, and more often in the format of correspondence.

Last year we passed the desk audit easily. Yes, you communicate, get distracted, but without hassle. They stop looking for chimeras, but really help the work, and common sense has appeared. Control could be increased for those working in construction and with a budget, and in the manufacturing business it became easier.

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Arkady Livshits, CEO of Arli-Special Equipment:

“We haven’t really changed anything. We are an innovative manufacturing company, we have not been particularly tested before. The company is completely open, we have no cash registers, cash, rent. There are no tax issues.

Friends say there are fewer checks. This is especially noticeable in retail.

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Igor Simakov, Director of the network of medical clinics “Health”:

– It has become calmer, although one of these days I am waiting for the visit of firefighters to one of the clinics. And in January, he canceled their preventive visit to another clinic, since the contractor was just completing a scheduled system check there. There were no sanctions: we were put on the plan for next year.

There is less hassle, the financial (fines, lawyers) and administrative burden is reduced. But there is a risk that entrepreneurs will lose their sense of internal responsibility and later the pendulum will swing back towards excessive supervision.

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Ruslan Nigmatulin, General Director of the Dalini Group of Companies (Naberezhnye Chelny):

— The topic of inspections and administrative pressure has ceased to be relevant in our region. Of the socially significant ones, I can only recall the inspection and closure of one industrial canteen by Rospotrebnadzor after the hospitalization of several poisoned employees. Almost all enterprises of the city immediately took large-scale preventive measures at that time. And yes, the food service has picked up.

According to the “Administrative pressure-2023” index, the number of inspections decreased by 70% over the year. But at the same time, 38% of entrepreneurs noted that the workload had increased. Therefore, in the country as a whole, the problem cannot be considered solved.

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Alexey Kaznin, owner of the development companies “Tandem” and “Riverhouse”:

– Compared to previous years, it has become less – this is both my opinion and business colleagues. Many note that supervisory authorities are more likely to perform a preventive rather than a punitive function – they help and give recommendations on how to eliminate shortcomings or prevent violations in the future.

In some cases, companies themselves initiate unscheduled inspections. For example, in May, we ourselves invited the Glavgosstroynadzor of the Moscow Region to the RIVER HOUSE residential complex, as we are preparing for its commissioning. Now, without any rush, we are dealing with issues on which we received recommendations during the audit.

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Marina Bludyan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NPO Phoenix, First Vice President of Opora Rossii:

“The nature of control has changed in many ways. Today, 500 thousand preventive measures and 100 thousand control measures are being taken, that is, the goal is not to punish, but to warn. Previously, prevention was simply at zero. With the introduction of a moratorium on inspections, the number of accidents and epidemics has not increased, and the numbers are even declining. This is all due to the preventive regimen.

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Nadezhda Salieva, founder of the Russian Doctor company and ENIGMA medical fashion house:

“The last two years we have been working very comfortably. There are no unscheduled checks. But we always work openly, honestly and do not experience difficulties with checks and fear. The absence of a large number of checks does not distract from routine processes, and allows you to focus on the fulfillment of the direct tasks of the departments. For example, accounting and logistics.

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Oleg Chernov, Founder and CEO of the Scientific and Production Center “Apogee”, President of the Mytishchi Chamber of Commerce and Industry:

– In the Moscow region – less. And many verification procedures have been digitized: you can remotely receive and work with instructions through the regional portal of public services and a mobile application, notify about the elimination of a violation by attaching documents.

There is a system of departmental appeals and, what is very important, pre-trial consideration. Since 2023, this procedure has become mandatory and works online. Such systemic things reduce the possibility of violation by the inspectors. And if violations occur, they can be reported to business associations and the regional prosecutor’s office.

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Kirill Surenko, owner of the production center Zavod12 (Rostov-on-Don):

“The tax authorities are strangling small businesses. We switched to the patent taxation system, and all the amounts coming into the account had to be taken into account under it. However, according to the results of the first check, I was fined 65 thousand rubles.

It turned out that tax officials did not put a check mark on their computer when filling out the form. Many have already tried to appeal, but even accounting offices said that it was impossible to prove anything, and everyone fell for these fines. It looked like a planned action. Opening a new business in parallel, we chose to simplify and online with partners, and even with desk checks it became easier there.

Group “Direct speech”