St. Petersburg Businessmen monitor the implementation of Laws by “Test Purchases”

Managing Partner of Maxima Legal, Maxim Avrashkov, took part in a round table discussion on “Test Purchases”, held by non-profit partnership “Leaders Club for Business Initiative Promotion’” at the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce on 22nd January 2013.

During the event the monitoring results of the Presidential Program to improve the investment climate in Russia were presented – the so-called “roadmaps” of the Agency of Strategic Initiatives. The decision was reached to oversee the implementation of changes by the innovative method of “mystery shopping” or “test purchases”. Entrepreneurs have independently offered to go through all the indicated procedures and evaluate the quality of public services for a number of specified parameters.

“During the discussion it became clear that the speed of business processes in our region still remains low, and our share of bureaucratic obstacles is still missing. But the very appearance of the practice of recruiting business representatives to solve important problems indicates positive changes in the social system and gives hope for a change in the current situation”,  says Maxim Avrashkov.

Similar meetings are expected to take place regularly. During 2014, “test purchases” will also be held on another five roadmaps:

• improvement of customs administration (route)
• increasing the availability of energy infrastructure (connection to the grid)
• improving the legal regulation of urban activities and improving the business climate in the construction industry (construction);
• improving the quality of public services in the field of state cadastral registration of immovable property and the state registration of rights to immovable property and transactions within it (property registration);
• the optimization of procedures for the registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs (business registration).