Trading Bill to Be Revaluated
Following the proposal of the RF Industry and Trade Ministry, the government is ready to redraft the State Trade Control Bill, said First Vice Premier Igor Shuvalov. According to people in the ministry, the key amendments will soften antimonopoly regulations and encourage development of chain stores. But the destiny of the new law is conditioned to the government’s success in inflation battle.
The RF government has rejected the State Trade Control Bill and intends to work out a new draft, First Vice Premier Igor Shuvalov said Friday by results of the Krasnodar meeting with agricultural producers, representatives of processing industry and trading chains.
“The vendors say they need the law, but it should encourage development instead of limiting it,” Shuvalov emphasized, pointing out a new bill is to be targeted at widening trading area and fueling competition between the chains.
“But first of all, the market players, including agricultural producers, processing producers and retailers, should sit down to the negotiating table and independently make our trading regulations that would discriminate none of the parties,” the first vice premier said.
It was the RF Industry and Trade Ministry that initiated the bill’s revision. In new wording, it will soften tough antimonopoly regulations, at least the proposal is to lower the threshold of the trading chains’ dominance from 35 percent to 15 percent, and even to 5 percent for Moscow and St. Petersburg. The new bill won’t provide for imposing the state control over agricultural prices that was proposed by the Agriculture Ministry. Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko and Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina closed the ranks to oppose this requirement.
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All the Article in Russian as of July 28, 2008
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