Retail trade presented a most liberalized market segment since the beginningof 1990s in the Russian economy. Suddenly, the state was brought back in bymid-2000s. Th e Federal Law ‘On Main Provisions for State Regulation of TradingActivity’ was adopted aft er continuous and furious debates. Where did a demandfor the state regulation come from? Which arguments were suggested by majorpolitical and market actors? How did political and symbolic struggle develop ondiff erent stages of this debate? What outcomes and compromises were achievedeventually? Th e author tackles these issues using the data collected from two seriesof in-depth interviews with the market actors and political experts as well asrecords from the meetings of ministerial expert groups.