On May 19th of 2021 year in the House of Government of the Moscow Region the All-Russian conference for entrepreneurs "For business: rating of regions.  Moscow Region". 

The Forum participants discussed measures of state support for business in the Moscow Region, issues of interdepartmental interaction when considering and working with appeals from entrepreneurs. During the plenary session, a number of issues related to the pre-trial settlement of conflict situations were considered, as well as the topic of preventing violations in the initiation of criminal cases against entrepreneurs and forceful pressure on business.

The conference was opened by Boris Titov, the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs under the President of the Russian Federation. The meeting was moderated by Sergei Katyrin, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Supervisory Council  “ The Platform for entrepreneurs 'appeals consiederation “ForBusiness.RF”,  and Elina Sidorenko,  the CEO of “ The Platform for entrepreneurs 'appeals consiederation “ForBusiness.RF”.

The event was attended by representatives of the state authorities of the Moscow Region, law enforcement authorities, heads of regional offices of the largest Russian business associations and organizations, entrepreneurs. 

General Director of the Platform Elina Sidorenko informed the Forum participants about the results of work with electronic appeals received from entrepreneurs through the “ForBusiness.RF Platform”.

Elina Sidorenko noted that one of the most important tasks that are solved during this conference is to popularize the platform among entrepreneurs. 

"The platform was created to solve the problems of entrepreneurs, who, unfortunately, are in no hurry to share them, fearing persecution. At the same time, up to 25% of complaints received on the Platform end up in a positive outcome for business," she noted. 

According to Sidorenko, we often have to deal with complaints from entrepreneurs who have disputes with other businessmen.

In this regard, Boris Titov, the Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs, said that disputes between economic entities should not be considered within the framework of criminal proceedings, but should be resolved exclusively in the civil law field. Therefore, according to Boris Titov, regional business ombudsmen do not consider such appeals and do not take part in such criminal proceedings. 

President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Moscow Region Igor Kuimov noted in his speech that the platform ForBussines.RF, working in the public field, plays the role of a public controller, and thus affects the prevention of cases of forceful pressure on business.

Let us recall that the launch of the ForBusiness.RF platform, created on the initiative of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia and other major Russian business associations, is designed to solve two main tasks - helping entrepreneurs in difficult situations and creating transparent mechanisms of public control over the consideration of the most complex problematic issues.

Currently, about 3000 entrepreneurs have registered on the platform, about 2 000 applications have been received, which are considered at the federal level. 

Business Ombudsman of the Moscow Region Vladimir Golovnev reported on the work of the regional institute for the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs with appeals related to the criminal prosecution of entrepreneurs.

“In the period from 2013year to the present, we received 15,832 applications. The number of applications received in 2020 amounted to almost 50% of this number, namely - 7,891. Approximately a quarter of all written applications are related to complaints about decisions, actions or inaction of law enforcement authority. The results of the consideration of appeals in 2020 remain high. In 52% of cases sent to the regional prosecutor's office, the applicant's arguments were confirmed and measures of the prosecutor's response were taken. When working with appeals, our representatives regularly take part in court sessions. However, the participation of the Ombudsman's representative as a defense attorney in court

in criminal cases cannot be of a mass nature. The powers of the defender presuppose the presence in court sessions for a long time, while the absence of an employee of the Office of the Ombudsman at the workplace adversely affects the work with other incoming appeals. We create the most effective mechanisms to solve the tasks set before us. In 2020, an Expert Commission 

was created under the Commissioner for Criminal Prosecution of Entrepreneurs, which assists in the preparation of conclusions on the most difficult appeals. The Expert Commission allows using the independent opinion of practitioners to develop optimal solutions to protect the rights and legal interests of entrepreneurs in criminal proceedings”, said Vladimir Golovnev.

According to the Moscow Region Business Ombudsman, the regional institution of the Ombudsman for solving complex issues uses various methods of working with the most complex appeals. For example, quarterly holding of joint receptions with the prosecutor of the Moscow Region, meetings of entrepreneurs with the participation of the regional Lawyer Association, working meetings in municipalities with the participation of local administrations and specialized specialists. 

“In our annual reports, we formulate proposals for improving the current legislation, including  criminal procedure. These reports are annually sent to the Presidential Ombudsman for the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights, the Governor of the Moscow Region, to the prosecutor's office, police, Moscow Regional Duma, heads of municipalities and this allows to pay attention and solve the most pressing issues ", - concluded the Business ombudsman of the Moscow Region Vladimir Golovnev. 

At the end of the meeting, entrepreneurs were received by representatives of the ForBusinessRF Platform and law enforcement agencies of the Moscow Region.