On May 24-25, 2021, the XV All-Russian Conference of Ombudsmen for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs is being held at the World Trade Center. 

On May 24th, issues of criminal and criminal procedural legislation, a new law on state and municipal control, issues of customs regulation and other topics were discussed. The main topic on May 25 will be the discussion of the main provisions of the report of the business ombudsman of the Russian Federation Boris Titov to the head of state Vladimir Putin.

On the first day of the conference, a meeting of the expert council under the Presidential Ombudsman for the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights was held, during which, with the participation of representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office, the problems of criminal prosecution of entrepreneurs were discussed. The meeting was attended by the Federal Business Ombudsman Boris Titov. Representatives of the lawyers' community, business associations and regional business ombudsmen expressed their opinion on the topic. 

“Recently, a lot of positive changes have been made to the norms of criminal and criminal procedure law, - said Boris Titov. - But how well are they being implemented in practice? We will discuss this today. So far, our polls show that entrepreneurs and law enforcement officers give almost diametrically opposite answers to this question. "

Changes in the criminal legislation that are positive for the investment climate are losing their significance, stumbling upon the practice of real application,said Boris Titov, the Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs.

In recent years, a number of proposals of the Federal Commissioner, contained in previously submitted reports, have been implemented in the legislation. In particular, damage thresholds for economic items have been increased. The possibility of terminating a criminal case is provided for, subject to compensation for damage (for a number of "business" articles). A special procedure for recognizing objects and documents as material evidence in criminal cases of crimes in the economic sphere is extended to parts 1-4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud). The criteria for the application of restrictions on the detention of entrepreneurs have been clarified. The list of economic crimes has been expanded, criminal cases on which are initiated only at the request of the victim. An entrepreneur who has paid off wage arrears is released from criminal liability. The validity of the seizure of originals of documents, materials and documents has been taken under special control.

Nevertheless, useful changes in the legislation are not yet effective enough in practice, stated Natalya Ryabova, Deputy Head of the Legal Service of the Presidential Ombudsman. In force from July 1st of 2021, Federal Law No. 248-FZ "On State Control (Supervision) and Municipal Control in the Russian Federation."

The meeting participants discussed this topic with the leadership of key Russian control and supervisory agencies - Rospotrebnadzor, Rostekhnadzor and Rosselkhoznadzor. They  talked about how the practice of department' work has changed, and how they are preparing to apply the provisions of the new law. The issue of increasing the supervisory functions of the prosecutor's office was also considered.

The law on state and municipal control was developed and adopted as part of the reform of control and supervisory activities. Most of its provisions will enter into force on July 1st of  2021. The main objectives of the law are to shift the focus from conducting inspections to preventing violations. The law provides legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with more guarantees when interacting with inspectors, and also simplifies this process.

A separate session was devoted to the consideration of the most pressing issues in the relationship between business and the Federal Customs Service. The conference participants had the opportunity to meet with the Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation Vladimir Ivin. The conference was closed by a meeting of the Stolypin Club. 

The Forum of Commissioners is being held on the eve of the annual meeting of the Russian President's Commissioner for the Defense with the President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. 

On May 25, the upcoming report to the President will be discussed with the heads of the largest business associations - the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Delovaya Rossiya, OPORA RUSSIA, as well as the General Prosecutor's Office and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. 

On the same day, a discussion of the problems of mandatory labeling of dairy products will be held with representatives of the operator of the labeling system - CRPT.