vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #535 / Business / Reading article...

Russia ranks 96th overall among 175 of the nations’ economies in conducting business pursuant to a recent report revealed by International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank.

Under the same overall grouping Singapore was number one, the U.S. ranked third while Russia’s neighbor to the east Japan held 11th position, the corporation’s official website www.ifc.org reported.

The study looked at ten different categories in 175 economies across the world to comprise the data including starting a business, obtaining credit, enforcing contracts, cross border trading and licensure.

When it comes to obtaining licenses, Russia is near the bottom ranking 163 while Japan took the number two spot. Russia’s bureaucratic procedures are the biggest hurdle to licensure and on average result in 22 different steps taking 531 days. Acquiring credit was also not a positive attribute for Russia (159th place) but it was for the U.S. who achieved seventh place, the same grade it held last year.

The U.S. and China’s worst ranking among the ten categories was in the paying taxes class where the U.S. took 62nd and China 168th place. Russia held the 98th position.

The most positive grouping for Russia was in the enforcement of contracts where it slotted the 25th spot, the same position it held last year. Russia also performed reasonably well in the starting a business group placing 33rd, up five from last year’s ranking while the same category was its neighbor S. Korea’s worst ranking at 116th place, a decrease of 11 from last year.

Starting a business in South Korea takes on average 12 steps over 22 days and the prospective entrepreneur must place a deposit of 299.7% gross national income (GNI) in a bank to obtain a registration number. Russia’s methods for acquiring a registration number are much less onerous taking an average of seven steps over 28 days and require a 3.4% GNI deposit.

Countries near Russia’s 96th ranking include Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Yemen. The data reveals that although Russia does not harbor a comfortable regulatory environment for doing business, it does show slight improvement from last year’s spot of 97th suggesting the economic atmosphere may be moving in the right direction.