Putin appoints RSPP head Alexander Shokhin as business ombudsman

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree appointing Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), as presidential commissioner for the protection of entrepreneurs' rights. The document was published on the portal of legal acts, Kommersant, Vedomosti and Interfax reported. Kommersant said the decree took effect when signed, on 5 October. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]

A second decree by Putin established the autonomous non-profit organisation “Platform for Work with Entrepreneurs' Appeals”, which will support the ombudsman's work, according to Kommersant, Vedomosti and Interfax. Vedomosti reported that the founders will be the state, the RSPP, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Delovaya Rossiya and Opora Rossii, and that the reform replaces the ombudsman's staff apparatus with this organisation. Interfax said the ombudsman will head the organisation's supervisory board, which is expected to include representatives of the government, law enforcement agencies, the Security Council and the heads of business associations; it said Shokhin had named the economy minister as a member. [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]

Shokhin will keep his position as RSPP president, Kommersant and Vedomosti reported. Vedomosti said he is 74, a graduate of Moscow State University and a doctor of economic sciences, who in the 1990s served as labour minister, deputy prime minister and economy minister, and has headed the RSPP since 2005. [ 4 , 5 ]

The ombudsman post had been vacant since 2022, after Boris Titov held it for two consecutive terms from 2012, Kommersant, Vedomosti and Interfax reported. Interfax said that after his second term ended Titov formally left the post but continued to act as ombudsman for a time before taking a new position; he is now the president's special representative for relations with international organisations. Interfax reported that Shokhin had earlier told journalists it was hard to find a new ombudsman partly because candidates acceptable to both the Kremlin and business did not want to enter state service. [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]

Discussion of reforming the institution began in late May, Kommersant reported; Vedomosti said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on 26 May that Shokhin would become the new commissioner while retaining his RSPP role. The State Duma adopted amendments to the relevant law in June 2026 and Putin signed the reform law that month, according to the outlets; Vedomosti put the Duma vote on 10 June, while Interfax said the law was adopted in early June. [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]

The reform changes how entrepreneurs' rights are defended. Kommersant reported that the ombudsman will be responsible for guarantees of state protection of their rights and for monitoring compliance by government bodies, but that after losing civil service status he will no longer be able to suspend municipal decisions that violate business rights and will instead be able to file a court request over an identified problem. Interfax said the change gives the institution a public-state rather than exclusively state character. According to Kommersant, practical work will run through a separate structure handling entrepreneurs' appeals, with special procedures already adopted in the Prosecutor General's office and other law enforcement bodies, and the ombudsman's remit will cover contacts with the business community, reviewing complaints, advice on rights and help resolving court disputes. [ 4 , 6 ]