#3 - JRL 6586
Russia to conduct economic census in 2004

MOSCOW. Dec 4 (Interfax) - A national economic census will be conducted in April 2004, the State Statistics Committee announced on Wednesday.

Companies and private entrepreneurs will report on their spheres of activity, turnover and the number of employees, said committee representative Tamara Kotlyarevskaya.

Current statistics cover medium and large companies, while only a fraction of small businesses have been surveyed, she noted. Although the Tax and Revenue Ministry collects full data on entrepreneurs, the State Statistics Committee does not have access to it for confidentiality reasons, she pointed out.

"The census will permit the State Statistics Committee to estimate more accurately the amount and dynamics of Russia's GDP," the committee said in a statement.

Since census data will be taken simultaneously, "the combination of all items" will "make it indispensable for economic and statistical analysis," the statement reads.

Economic censuses before 1920 were used as a monitoring method due to the lack of reliable statistics. They were replaced by regular reporting that was consistent with the executive agencies' requirements. Until the early 1990s, the agencies implemented economic planning.