The Russian Prime Minister named the Smolensk region among the leaders in the development of competition in the economy

The Smolensk, Ryazan and Novosibirsk regions are leaders in the country as for the degree of competition development and the state of competitive environment in the regional economy. Dmitry Medvedev spoke about it at the meeting of the Government.

Opening the meeting, Dmitry Medvedev said that healthy competition is the base for the harmonious development of all sectors of the economy. According to him, at present there is increasing competition in such sectors as air transport airport services, construction of primary economy class housing, hotel and restaurant business. There are new companies in the areas of healthcare and transport services. "Nevertheless, there is not enough competition in a great part of markets. It still is not developed; there are key players who control substantial part of resources. In addition, administrative, technological and other barriers prevent companies from entering these markets", - said Dmitry Medvedev.

He stressed that recently the Government and business community have agreed on a series of measures for the development of a competitive environment in Russia. Among them, Dmitry Medvedev named the preparation of amendments to the fourth antimonopoly package and optimization of antimonopoly rules, the development of rules for non-discriminatory access of companies to the telecommunication infrastructure and the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences, which establish liability of customers for breach of contract in the field of public procurement. In addition, according to the Prime Minister, the legislation regarding foreign investors has been improved. Separately, Dmitry Medvedev focused on the implementation of "Road Map" activities, aimed at developing competitive relations, in particular, the approval of the standard of competition in the regions.

"It is extremely important that the measures I mentioned, and a number of measures, which I did not speak about, develop competition not only on the federal level. It is most important, of course, to do it in the regions and municipalities - these are the levels of government which are closest to people, that is where the practical problems are solved. FAS (Federal Antimonopoly Service) and the Ministry of Economic Development rate the regions as for the degree of competition development and the state of competitive environment. There are a number of leaders, including the Novosibirsk, Ryazan, Smolensk regions, in some aspects, Moscow and St. Petersburg. I hope that other regions will catch up in this regard",- Dmitry Medvedev informed the participants of the meeting.

The rating of the regions as for the degree of competition development and the state of competitive environment is compiled on the basis of four criteria: the number (including gains or losses) of enterprises, the number of complaints of violations to Federal Antimonopoly Service, the state of the commodity markets and the expert opinion of business community representatives.