On Tuesday, he presented a program of state support for small business at the 6th all-Russian conference of small companies' representatives.
"A major task of the program is to increase small companies' contribution to the country's GDP from 13.5% in 2005 to 20% in 2008. During the implementation of the program, the government is also planning to increase the number of business incubators from 30 to 110," Andrei Sharonov noted.
He pointed out that the Russian government intended to allocate Rbs.1.5 bln (with $1 being roughly equivalent to Rbs.27.75) for implementing the program of support for small business. The ministry proposes that this sum be doubled next year.
In Andrei Sharonov's words, "this sum is not so big but sufficient in order to test the first forms of support and in future, relying on co-financing, to provide private funds and regional budget funds for support of small business."
The government hopes that, with the adoption of the program of support for small business, businessmen's expenditures caused by administrative barriers will be reduced threefold, Andrei Sharonov added.
"By using de-regulation, the government hopes to take some part of small businesses out of the shadow, in particular the companies related to the transport sphere and family hotel business," he continued.
In his words, the program will also help optimize taxation of small companies.
The government's press service told Tuesday that the Cabinet had already approved the rules for granting federal budget funds, which are earmarked for state support for small business, to small companies, including the farmers' households. Russia's prime minister Mikhail Fradkov has signed the respective resolution.
