Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the government will continue to adopt measures to better investment environment. At the annual plenary session of the Consultative Council on Foreign Investments, Putin said the Russian government is cracking down on bureaucracy and would delegate part of its permission and licensing functions to relevant organizations. As far as I can judge, the overwhelming majority of our partners intend to continue investing in Russia and doing business here. It goes without saying that we are interested in the success of these plans and are ready to assist in their realization as much as we can. I would like to add that our Foreign Investment Advisory Council has proved to be an effective mechanism of uniting the efforts of the Russian Government and foreign partners to improve the investment climate, legislation and law-enforcement practice, Putin said. It is premature to speak about the completion of these processes, not to mention a full recovery from the crisis, which has affected all of us. However, I’m sure that we already have the grounds to express cautious optimism. This applies to the situation in Russia as well. In the second half of this year, our economy has started growing again; inflation is going down, and unemployment is gradually decreasing, the Russian premier said. This does not mean that anti-crisis measures are no longer necessary. Needless to say, we will continue encouraging the domestic demand, increasing the stability and reliability of the financial system, and taking measures to reduce the budget deficit and ensure macro-economic stability, he said. He said the government should overcome the institutional restrictions on the economic growth, guarantee investment breakthrough, and large-scale technological reform of the Russian economy. The first drawback you have noticed is excessive red tape in decision-making - either in starting a business or in deciding to invest. This is very true. I think this is a grave legacy of the planned economy when all decisions, including those pertaining to the market, were made at the administrative level, when it was believed that some administrator at some level knows better what to do or not to do than a businessperson or a market operator. We have definite plans in this context. They are not being carried out as fast as we would like but we will continue pursuing them nonetheless, Putin said. What are they all about? First of all, they provide for the declarative principle on the start of business in many fields. We are working on this, and probably, the Regional Development Minister will speak about this in more detail. The second aspect concerns the transfer of some functions, including licensing, to a self-regulating level. Here we must act very cautiously because self-regulation is not well developed here. It is either ineffective or weak, and still unable to assume such responsibility. But we will continue moving towards this goal. And, finally, I’d like to say a few words about infrastructure. Despite the crisis, which dealt a two-fold blow at the Russian economy by reducing the market of our main export commodities, and lowering prices, we are using our reserves not to cut the scale of the infrastructure projects, Putin said. The Russian premier also promised more input into the infrastructure construction, the imperfection of which is said to be one of the major obstacles for foreign companies to expand their operation in Russia.