Russia rises in World Bank’s Doing Business ranking

Print 03 November 2017
Marchmont Innovation News

Russia advanced five points to the 35th place in the World Bank’s annual  Doing Business report  released yesterday, a sixth consecutive year of improvement, reported US-Russia Business Council, citing the source. 

The new report rated Russia one place below Japan and above several EU member states including Italy and Belgium. The World Bank said Russia implemented 23 reforms since 2012, which included the establishment of one-stop business registration, improvements in the tax system and a more efficient procedure of obtaining construction permits. 

The report also highlighted recent improvements in Russia’s property registration procedure, easier access to credit thanks to a new collateral registry, and improvements in Russia’s cross-border transport infrastructure. 

The report ranks 190 countries in terms of their business climate based primarily on the quality of state regulation of business. President Putin in 2012 ordered the government to improve Russia’s Doing Business ranking from 118th that year to 50th by 2015 and 20th in 2018. The World Bank said that Russia’s progress in recent years has reflected the government’s focus on the ranking as a guide for economic reforms. 

However, some Bank experts noted the ranking’s failure to measure the impact of other factors such as corruption, nepotism, macroeconomic stability, and political freedom. Despite Russia’s notable progress on issues that are measured in the ranking, foreign investors continue to note its failure to implement broader pro-business reforms, the state’s heavy reliance on oil and gas revenues, the disproportionate role of state-run companies, and excessive bureaucracy.

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