Mikhail Fradkov, Russia’s Prime Minister, has stunned the business community by saying his country's secret service must spy on large corporations to guarantee economic growth

Mikhail Fradkov, Russia’s Prime Minister, has stunned the business community by saying his country's secret service must spy on large corporations to guarantee economic growth. His comments follow a campaign led by the Kremlin against the oil giant Yukos, which culminated in the company declaring bankruptcy as its main production plant was sold in a government auction last month. The Kremlin’s decision to pursue Yukos for more than US$3 billion in tax was widely seen as politically motivated after Mikhail Khodorkovsky, formerly Russia’s richest man and the chief executive of Yukos, entered politics in opposition to President Vladimir Putin. "We still need help from the FSB to provide the government and the executive branch with sufficient information... that can level the playing field among businesses for growth," Interfax quoted Mr Fradkov as saying. The FSB is the secret service, which in the Soviet era was known as the KGB. Mr Fradkov said state-sponsored spying on Russian business would "develop business and attract investments". A spokesman for BP, which has extensive operations in Russia, admitted he was surprised to hear Mr Fradkov’s comments but refused to criticise the Russian government.