Russia

Parliamentary hearings on the subject "Essence and Role of Co-operation in the National Economy" were conducted on 5-6 December in Moscow. Members of the Parliament, co-operative leaders from all sectors, high-ranking government officials and decision-makers took part in the sessions. Valentin Ermakov, Chairman of Centrosojuz's Council, stressed in his report, the important role consumer co-operatives play in the solution of the vitally important problems of Russian villages. He underlined the contribution of consumer co-operatives to creating jobs, providing loans for purchasing goods, maintaining 29.000 shops in remote areas, which is an unprofitable activity and assisting the sick, the poor and rural people, in general. Other speakers emphasized that 57 % of the rural population were under the poverty line and the number of jobless people was close to two million. Youth were leaving the village and the countryside was becoming deserted. All speakers agreed on the vital role co-operatives can play in improving this situation and contribute to the development of national economy. Some speakers called the attention to tax legislation, which didn't take into account the social responsibility of consumer co-operatives and urged amendments to legislation in order to develop rural infrastructure and impede Russian villages to disappear.

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