First Deputy Prime Minister Zubkov's remarks (abridged): 

I would like to thank everyone present here today for playing an active role in shaping this law.

The law on trade took effect on February 1, while certain provisions will be implemented in stages this year.

This law must be executed. No bickering between business entities will be allowed at the meetings of this task group. All disputes must be settled in court.

We will focus on implementing the directives of the president and prime minister of the Russian Federation to ensure that all necessary regulatory acts are adopted and that there is continuous monitoring of the progress made on implementing the law. If necessary, we will introduce amendments to the trade legislation without delay. We will need to keep an eye on consumer prices, the development of retail trade, particularly in small towns and villages, and ensure that trading organisations grant manufacturers free access to their services.

This task group was set up specifically to address these issues, and it is made up of people who worked on the law on trade, including government officials, representatives of agricultural producers and processors, and trading organisations.

We will hold regular meetings, so we need to draw up our rules and procedures as well as schedule for meetings, which must correspond with the schedule of the regulatory acts to be drafted in accordance with this law. Five of the government's regulatory acts and a number of departmental decrees need to be amended, and this work must be finished by the end of the year. The drafts of these documents are to be reviewed at the meetings of this task group.

Let me repeat that our common goal is to ensure the implementation of the law and the balanced development of all the industries involved. This is why its implementation must be monitored constantly. That said, the first item on today's agenda is the proposals of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on setting up this monitoring.

The next issue to be considered today is the progress made on drafting the government resolution on how to calculate the market share a trading organisation may have. I am referring to the provision that caps a retail chain's market share at 25%. This document is very important and is due by the end of March.

No coordinated draft has been submitted to the government yet, and as you know, the president and the prime minister of the Russian Federation pay a lot of attention to the efficiency of ministries and agencies. Everything must be ready on time. Therefore, a coordinated draft that takes into account what we decide here today must be submitted to the government within a week.