The administrative reform has been to no effect. It was no use even starting it. Officials continue to take bribes like they used to, while the state only encourages them to do so. There is a lot of money in Russia, but the government does not know how to manage it wisely. Such unpromising conclusions were reached by participants of the RBC business conference in Cape Town which ended yesterday. However, the initial plan was to discuss cooperation between Russia and South Africa.

As the joke went among the participants of the conference, it was worth going to South Africa to discuss Russia's current domestic issues. The issues are the same as always: suspended reforms, corruption, a surplus of money in the economy and lack of investor activity. "The administrative reform has come down to a technical division of the administration into ministries and agencies," said Andrei Nechayev, former Economy Minister of Russia, and President of Russian Financial Corporation. According to him, it has had no real effect. The pressure of the authorities on business has not subsided, while the number of officials has only increased.

"State regulation in Russia is an impenetrable membrane, and if it is penetrable, then it is at a great loss", agreed Viktor Pleskachevsky, Chairman of the Committee for Ownership, the State Duma of Russia. Thus, according to him, if it was enough to have one employee in a soviet collective farm to do the accounting, nowadays businesses create entire departments to prepare reports for state authorities, while in most cases the latter do not even read them.

The state's participation in the economy is constantly increasing. "On the part of the state, property is managed by actual people," Nechayev said (there are 9 thousand state unitary enterprises, several thousand municipal unitary enterprises and open joint stock companies with state interest still in state ownership). Nevertheless, state management is highly ineffective. "YUKOS has been evading taxes, but in absolute value it paid more taxes than did state-owned Rosneft", the ex-minister stressed. Representatives of the state tried to justify themselves. "The administrative reform is developing. A lot has been done: in particular, access to state information has been approved, the federal law on licensing has been accepted," Tver regional governor Dmitri Zelenin said in defense of the reform. He added that, according to plan, 30% of 19 thousand federal institutions would be liquidated. State regulation is nevertheless necessary, insisted Yevgeniy Dedkov, Administrative Department Director of the Russian Industry and Energy Ministry. According to him, the state must have the vested right to control the access of foreigners to strategic industry sectors.

The participants of the conference admitted that even in South Africa it is much easier and safer to invest than it is in Russia. Therefore, this is precisely the country that many of our businessmen invest in.