More than half of entrepreneurs have encountered illegal businesses in their field – Chamber of Commerce and Industry

40% of businessmen estimate that the clandestine segment in their sector amounts to 10%, another 36% believe that the illegal business represents a quarter of the market. 17% of respondents assume that approximately half of the companies belong to the illegal sector and 7% are confident in the dominant position of the parallel segment in their field of activity.

The businessmen surveyed consider the main signs of illegal activity to be lack of registration (47%), non-payment of taxes (44%), refusal to obtain permits (41%) and gray salaries (34%). The presentation of imported products as manufactured in Russia, the participation of counterfeit products in public procurement, payments without going through cash register equipment (transfers to cards) and the hiring of self-employed workers also point to a gray area, businessmen said. .

The vast majority of respondents reported that side businesses hinder the development of their companies. About half consider the impact “significant” and 27% said the loss of income due to the gray zone is “huge.” The rest of those surveyed do not consider illegal business an obstacle to the development of their business, and 13% indicated that “it does not bother them at all.”

The “National Business Barometer” is an annual study by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, but in it the topic of illegal businesses appears for the first time, Vedomosti stressed. A total of 20.3 thousand respondents participated in the study, mainly founders and owners of companies, as well as senior and middle managers. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted the survey between September and October.