The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), a lobby group based in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, promotes the interests of

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. It has over 1,000 members, including both private and state-owned companies, factories, and foreign and Russian plants. The RSPP represents the successor in the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

of the previous USSR scientific and industrial union founded in the summer of 1990.

Arkady Volsky Arkady Volsky (; 15 May 1932 – 9 September 2006) was a Soviet politician and businessman. He served as a senior aide to three Soviet General Secretaries, including Mikhail Gorbachev, and was one of three Deputy Prime Ministers in the last ...

founded the Union in 1991 and headed it until 2005. He was succeeded by Aleksandr Shokhin, vice-premier of Russia from 1991 to 1994, and subsequently a

Duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

deputy for eight years. The current president is Alexander Shokhin. The current vice-president, Igor Yurgens, a graduate of

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

, has served as an adviser to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and to the Trade Unions Council, and chaired the General Confederation of Trade Unions in 1996. Yurgens is sometimes interviewed by Western media on issues concerning Russian industry. At a meeting of the lobby in July 2009,

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

s executives portrayed the most popular

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...

programs like

Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...

and ICQ as encroaching foreign entities that the government must control.

References

External links

Official site (mostly in Russian with a small English section)Igor Yurgens on BBC Online
Business organizations based in Russia 1991 establishments in Russia Organizations established in 1991 {{Poli-org-stub