Bureaucratic hurdles and taxes deter many potential Russian entrepreneurs

Despite an overall positive attitude to entrepreneurship, an overwhelming majority of Russians do not want to run their own business, according to the results of a VCIOM poll. This reluctance is due to a number of reasons, for example, 56 percent of those polled believe it’s impossible to run an honest business in Russia without hiding something or cheating.

When it comes to starting one's own business, many Russians are put off by bureaucratic hurdles and high taxes. These factors were named as major obstacles by 46 percent of respondents. Such sentiments probably also account for the fact that an overwhelming majority disapprove of punishing private entrepreneurs for non-payment of taxes, and even don’t consider tax evasion to be a serious matter. A total of 29 percent of respondents sympathize with small business owners who try to evade taxes, and 8 percent said they’d so the same.

The poll also revealed that men are more willing to take risks and to try their hand in business than women. And only 14 percent in recent months had earned additional income from private business, while among those respondents not currently involved in private business activity only 14 percent had such experience in the past.

The VCIOM poll confirms earlier reports that the number of small businesses in Russia has been declining since 2010. Furthermore, 70 percent of Russians do not think it possible to make a large fortune through honest means, according to a 2015 poll by the Levada Center.

Read more: The agrarian adventures of an innovative American farmer in Siberia

If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.