Yesterday, Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), received unprecedented permission from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for representatives of big business to officially take part in government meetings on a more or less regular basis. Previously, representatives of big business -- usually members of the RSPP Board - could merely be invited to attend, but only government officials had the right to take part in meetings of the government or its presidium.
Shokhin managed to receive this right by making reference to the participation of Mikhail Shmakov, head of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR), in government meetings. As Shokhin told Kommersant, the Prime Minister himself recalled the fact, thereby "provoking the head of RSPP to ask for the same right, as it were."
"Mikhail Shmakov, the FNPR leader, takes part in government meetings. I suggested that for balance, this right should be extended to us. The coordinators of the trade unions and employers in the Russian Trilateral Commission (RTC) take part in government meetings within RTC jurisdiction, and I suggested following the existing model. My proposal was accepted." Shokhin said.
Participation of the trade union leader in government meetings is largely a Soviet anachronism. The FNPR inherited it from its predecessor, the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions. At yesterday's meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev, Shmakov himself discussed the RTC prospects. He supported the RSPP initiative and explained that he "has the right to vote on draft laws discussed in the RTC." However, he admitted that his idea of enhancing the RTC authority on issues related to labour relations is not approved by all members of the government, which often presents previously adopted decisions at RTC meetings.
Shokhin insists that formal involvement of the RSPP in government meetings is not enough. He discussed with Putin more than mere participation of RSPP representatives as RTC members in government meetings within RTC's purview (the RTC has three sides - the government, employers and trade unions). "The matter concerns not so much our participation in government meetings but institutionalizing the participation of business in expert appraisals and decision-making. In Novo-Ogaryovo [the Prime Minister's residence -- Kommersant], we discussed the effectiveness of dialogue between business and the government. We agreed that the RSPP, ministries, and departments should formulate their opinion on key issues of the future agenda in two or three months. Moreover, it is important to bear in mind that apart from RTC subjects, there are a number of issues that are of vital interest to businessmen but not to the trade unions. The questions beyond the scope of the RTC should be discussed at government meetings," Shokhin said.
For the RSPP, the right to take part in government meetings is the first step to its de facto integration into the government agency, which reforms the lobbyist sphere. "Businessmen could address organizations like the RSPP to coordinate positions, which is better than direct lobbying," Shokhin explained.
The RSPP suggests formal early coordination of positions occupied by businessmen and ministries on issues that go beyond labour relations. By way of example, he mentioned the normative acts on energy conservation and energy efficiency, which are being drafted by the White House.
"At the RSPP congress in April 2010, we would like to finalize what we call the new agenda of dialogue between business and the government. The Ministry of Economics will coordinate this work on behalf of the government. Mr. Putin promised to attend our congress," Shokhin said. He observed that Kazakhstan has successfully tested this practice. However, it had to change the government regulations to do this.
Now that the members of the RSPP Board have received the right to take part in government meetings, they can formally call themselves "oligarchs." Even before Putin's decision to remove big business from power "to equidistance" (announced by then-President Putin on February 28, 2000), it was problematic to talk about the official involvement of the owners of big private companies in the federal government.
Apparently, Putin will display caution in involving business in government work. Apart from the RSPP and the FNPR, there are many other organizations that would like to take part in government meetings. Sergei Borisov, president of Opory Rossii, told Kommersant that he would also like to take part in such meetings. Moreover, he emphasized that small business is obliged to attend these meetings as well. "The RTC will be lop-sided if small and medium business is not represented in it. The RSPP initiative is one-dimensional and not quite correct. We must occupy an absolutely equitable position in the RTC," he said. Borisov emphasized that the government strategy provides for increasing the share of small business to 60% in the country's GDP in ten years. Currently, the share of the RSPP in the GDP is up to 80%.
By Dmitry Butrin, Pyotr Netreba, and Darya Nikolayeva
