Vladimir Golovnev made a speech at the Moscow Regional Duma on the main results of the work of the Institute of the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in the Moscow Region in 2020 year. 

According to the Ombudsman, the business of the Moscow Region , in comparison with other regions, came out of the lockdown with the least losses due to the support measures implemented in the region.

“2020 has been a challenging year for many of us.  But we held out.  In 2020, 354,611 business entities carried out entrepreneurial activities in the Moscow Region, which is 0.1% less than in 2019.  In connection with the pandemic of coronavirus infection in Russia as a whole, the number of SMEs decreased by 4%.  At the same time, as part of the implementation of the Small and Medium Business National Project in the Moscow Region, the number of people employed in the sphere of SMEs and self-employed citizens is steadily growing, "Vladimir Golovnev noted at the beginning of his speech.

The report noted that over 8 years of work, the number of applications increased by an average of 20% annually, but due to the pandemic in 2020, the number of incoming applications increased 5 times.

In total, according to Golovnev, 7,891 applications were considered during the year, in 2019 - 1,939. The bulk of applications were received during the spread of coronavirus infection and the introduction of the most stringent restrictions (from March to July) - 5,707.  the same period in 2019, only 568 applications were accepted.  In total, over 8 years of work, 15,832 applications were considered.

The bulk of the requests from entrepreneurs during this difficult period were devoted to the following topics:

64.3% - requests to relax the imposed restrictions;

24.1% - issues related to compliance (interpretation) of restrictions;

11.6% of those who applied sent their proposals on the need to amend the legislation.  Basically, the proposals received were related to the addition of the list of industries most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

“From March to July, the work was carried out practically around the clock.  We regularly monitored the state of the business climate, assisted in obtaining certificates of force majeure, and helped entrepreneurs preserve their business.  In Volokolamsk alone, more than 200 organizations and enterprises were retained, in Krasnogorsk - about 100. Assisted in obtaining soft loans, ”Vladimir Golovnev said.

“Without taking into account the coronavirus topic, complaints related to the activities of law enforcement agencies are still in the lead - 25% of the total,” Golovnev said.

In 2020, complaints related to the abuse of the dominant position of resource-supplying organizations and violations in the field of housing and communal services were singled out from the topic “administrative barriers” as independent types.

The thematic TOP-5 also includes appeals related to "violations in the field of land and property relations" and "taxes", "payment of state and municipal contracts."

In 2020, when considering applications:

in 54% of cases, the applicant's rights were restored in full or in part.

34% - complaints were found unfounded.

12% remain pending, work with them continued in 2021.

In the course of working with appeals, close interaction was carried out with federal departments and regional ministries, the prosecutor's office, the Moscow Regional Duma, business associations, the Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs and authorized representatives in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In 2020, despite the quarantine restrictions, in order to adopt the experience and developments of the Moscow region, the Office of the Commissioner was visited by colleagues from Kaluga, Yaroslavl, Lipetsk and Volgograd regions.  Interaction with the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in Moscow is carried out on a systematic basis.  Mineeva T. V.

According to Vladimir Golovnev, last year much attention was paid to educational work: personal and joint receptions of entrepreneurs were held with the regional prosecutor's office, field visits to enterprises in municipalities, during which problem areas related to the introduced work standards during the spread of coronavirus infection, thematic  seminars, online conferences and webinars, including meetings of the Public and Expert Council on the most pressing issues.

In 2020, the Expert Commission on Rulemaking continued its work.  In particular, a large-scale work was carried out to assess the regulatory and actual impact of 65 regulatory legal acts.

In February 2020, the Expert Commission on Criminal Prosecution of Entrepreneurs was created, which included lawyers from the Moscow Region Bar Association with criminal law specialization.  This allowed the Ombudsman to use the independent opinion of practitioners to develop optimal solutions to protect the rights and legitimate interests of entrepreneurs in criminal proceedings.  During the year, the aforementioned Expert Commission initiated proposals on amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, prepared 12 opinions, and its members became regular participants in the meetings of the Business Against Corruption PSC.

In the past year, the practice of conducting mediation procedures became widespread.  Within the framework of the Mediation Center of the Moscow Region, created at the end of 2019, more than 500 disputes between economic entities were settled in a pre-trial procedure.  In November 2020, a tripartite agreement was signed between the Institute of the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in the Moscow Region, the Forestry Committee of the Moscow Region and the Mediation Center of the Moscow Region.

 “Work in key areas continues this year.  We will make every effort to ensure that the rights and legitimate interests of the Moscow Region business are respected, and the disputes arising between business and government bodies are settled in a pre-trial manner, ”said the Business Ombudsman of the Moscow Region Vladimir Golovnev, concluding the report.

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