Russian businessmen demand labor minister’s resignation

Two Russian public organizations of small and mid-sized businessmen, including “Opora Rossii” (Russia’s Support) and “Delovaya Rossiya” (Business Russia), said on Monday that they might demand the resignation of Andrei Isayev, the head of the Russian State Duma Committee for Labor and Social Policy, and Russian Labor Minister Maxim Topilin. "If a wrong decision is passed (on the bill on reduction of insurance payments for individual entrepreneurs), someone should bear political and civilian responsibility,” Alexander Galushka, the Delovaya Rossiya co-chairman and a co-chairman of the central headquarters of the All-Russian Popular Front, said on Monday. According to Alexander Brechalov, one of the “Opora Rossii” leaders, Topilin and Isayev are the ones who should be held responsible. “It was impossible to have a dialogue with Isayev. It was open sabotage,” Brechalov claimed commenting on a debate which the Duma Committee for Labor and Social Policy had on a bill which had been drafted by members of the All-Russian Popular Front and suggested reduction of insurance payments for individual entrepreneurs. The head of “Delovaya Rossiya” also confirmed his intention to appeal to Russian president if insurance payments for individual entrepreneurs remained high. According to the bill, insurance payments for self-employed entrepreneurs with an annual income of less than 300,000 rubles should be calculated on the basis of a minimum monthly wage. If the annual income exceeds the aforesaid sum, the size of insurance payments should be calculated on the basis of a minimal monthly wage plus 1% of the total annual income of over 300,000 rubles. The bill is intended to stop a radical decrease in the number of individual entrepreneurs because of high insurance payments. However, on June 27, the Duma Committee for Labor and Social Policy, voted for amendments to the bill under which insurance payments will be reduced only in 2014 for a period of two years. The next day, the “Opora Rossii" and “Delovaya Rossiya” public organizations published a joint statement in which they asked the deputies of all factions to refrain from voting for the committee’s decision, which leads to a further decrease in the number of individual entrepreneurs. They also demanded to raise the question of whether Andrei Isayev, the committee’s chairman, suited his post. The two organizations also called on the Russian State Duma to vote for amendments to the bill that have been approved by the public and leading entrepreneurial associations and suggested by members of the Committee for economic policy, innovative development and entrepreneurship during the spring session (which is due to hold its last plenary meeting on July 5). The Russian business community believes that if adopted the amendments will stop the decrease of individual entrepreneurs in Russia.