OREANDA-NEWS The United Kingdom ranked first in the list of the most suitable countries for doing business according to Forbes magazine. The rating was published on Wednesday on the website of the publication.

"Despite the uncertainty associated with Brexit, the UK for the second year in a row ranks first in terms of the capacity of its workforce, innovation and lack of bureaucracy," the magazine notes.

In second place in the list is Sweden, the third - Hong Kong. The three leaders are followed by the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, Singapore, Australia and Switzerland. Russia took 55th place in the list.

Compared to the previous rating, Russia has improved its position by three lines.

According to the rating's authors, "the combination of falling oil prices, international sanctions and structural restrictions pushed Russia into a deep recession in 2015, when GDP fell by almost 2.8%."

It is noted that the decline in the Russian economy continued until 2016, when GDP fell by another 0.2%, but in 2017 it "was reversed, as global demand increased."

The publication also draws attention to the fact that in recent years in Russia increased state support for import substitution "in an attempt to diversify the economy by abandoning the extractive industries."

According to the publication, the rating took into account such indicators as the protection of property rights, innovation, tax system, technology, corruption, infrastructure, market size, political risks, quality of life and the level of bureaucracy.

Ukraine was on the 77th place, Georgia-on the 44th, Kazakhstan - on the 65th, Azerbaijan - on the 70th, Armenia - on the 81st, Moldova - on the 87th, Belarus-on the 88th, Uzbekistan - on the 105th, Kyrgyzstan - on the 108th, Tajikistan - on the 124th. The best results from the post-Soviet republics showed the Baltic countries: Lithuania - on the 27th place, Estonia - on the 28th, Latvia - on the 36th.

USA is situated on the 17-th place, China — 49th. the Last five places were taken by Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.