"Today it's hard to tell Russian companies from foreign by quality," the minister told journalists after a meeting with executives of Russia's trade networks and retail trade companies.
Creation of equal competition in trade sphere was discussed at the meeting. "This sector is highly competitive," Gref remarked.
"We don't observe a tendency toward market monopolization by foreign networks, but we see their positive role in enhancing the quality of services," the minister said.
Gref noted that as of today, some 15,000,000 people are engaged in trade. "This is one of the largest sectors of the economy, which produces over 20 percent of the GDP," the minister said.
In his words, the volume of goods turnover in trade is increasing with an excess of the GDP and investment growth rates. This testifies to the dynamics of the consumer market growth and economic growth in general," he emphasized.
