Abstract: The article examines the impact of letters from Russian authorities on the business community. Currently, the regulation of the publication and withdrawal of letters is non-systemic, and the legal nature of letters has not yet been determined. The lack of clear and transparent procedures for their adoption and application leads to the fact that letters from the authorities can also be used as an element of administrative pressure on business: explanations from the authorities can impose new responsibilities on companies, interfere in their operational activities, "bypass" the procedures of inspections established by law.
It is proposed to define letters of authorities as a kind of legal acts that are adopted by law enforcement agencies in the absence of a single regulated legal procedure for their publication, contain explanations of legislation and (or) rules of conduct that can have an indirect impact on an indefinite circle of persons and (or) be applied in specific legal situations.  In order to reduce the negative impact of letters from authorities on subjects of economic legal relations, legal regulation of the publication of letters by authorities is proposed. Within the framework of this procedure, it is important to establish: general rules of registration, a limited list of grounds for their adoption; the need to substantiate the practical benefits of accepting letters for non-government entities; establishing the priority of letters that create favorable conditions for non-government subjects of legal relations, in cases of letters contradicting each other; a limited list of officials who have the right to sign them; the procedure for cancellation (revocation) of letters from public authorities, including a list of entities that have the right to raise the issue of their cancellation (revocation). The latter may be the bodies of the Ministry of Justice and (or) the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation (due to the emerging practice recognizing such competence for them).
At the end of the study, it is additionally proposed to evaluate letters according to the criterion of expediency and within the framework of the judicial norm control procedure.