The Ministry of Economy announced additional measures to support business
Today, at a briefing in Tatar-inform dedicated to the organization of the working hours of enterprises in the period from October 30 to November 7, First Deputy Minister of Economy of the region Rustem Sibgatullin announced additional measures to support the business of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The speaker noted that during the introduction of restrictions, the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan established the collection of feedback from SMEs through hotlines, through surveys, letters of appeal from representatives of business communities, which allowed to form support measures based on the real needs and wishes of entrepreneurs.
In total, more than 540 appeals were received through communication channels, the bulk of the appeals are from representatives of the trade sector, of which half operate in shopping centers. According to the results of the survey, the majority of respondents - 47% - note a drop in revenue and a decrease in sales. About 23% of respondents indicated a drop in attendance at shopping malls.
One of the most frequent questions is the forecast period for the cancellation of restrictions. Sibgatullin drew attention to the fact that the restrictions imposed are temporary and aimed at improving the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Republic of Tatarstan, and the way to remove them as soon as possible is to develop collective immunity through vaccination of the population. At the same time, according to feedback received from business, the majority of entrepreneurs (63%) do not experience difficulties with vaccination of employees and note a high percentage of vaccination of the team - from 81 to 100.
Feedback also made it possible to highlight key requests for business support. The most popular measures are financial instruments - soft loans, microloans, subsidies, as well as the restructuring of existing loans, including those received earlier under the FOT 3.0 program.
Rustem Sibgatullin noted that, in accordance with the recommendations of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to credit and microfinance organizations, in order to provide financial support to SMEs, as well as self-employed citizens, it is recommended to restructure previously issued loans and microloans, including previously restructured debt, and not to charge borrowers a penalty, fines, penalties.
"This measure applies to all credit and microfinance organizations, including microloans issued by the Entrepreneurship Support Fund subordinate to the Ministry of Economy. We are already carrying out this work. You can get advice on this and other issues related to business support by calling the hotline of the Entrepreneurship Support Fund 8 (843) 524-90-90," the speaker concluded.
As for the extension of the payment of previously received loans under the FOT 3.0 program, the repayment period of which came in September-October of this year, the Russian Government has prepared proposals to amend the terms of the program, which allow for a delay in the payment of this loan for another 6 months.
Sibgatullin elaborated on the conditions of federal support programs aimed at preserving labor collectives and the number of employed by SMEs, grants in the amount of the minimum wage and the resumption of the FOT 3.0 program to help SMEs and SONKO from affected industries.
"Taking into account the conditions of federal programs, including their targeting to the affected categories of entrepreneurial activity, at the republican level we additionally decided to support the non-covered categories of business, and this is mainly trade, for which we record the majority of appeals," the speaker noted when switching to the block of republican support measures.
For these areas, as well as for those SMEs that operate in industries that have fallen under republican restrictions and are not included in Federal support programs, the Ministry of Economy has resumed issuing a "One percent" microloan, which demonstrated high demand in 2020-the pandemic year.
A microloan is provided by the Entrepreneurship Support Fund subordinate to the Ministry of Economy, in the amount of 300 thousand to 1 million rubles for any purpose justified by borrowers at 1% per annum, provided that 90% of the number of jobs is preserved. The loan term is from 3 to 24 months, including a delay in the payment of the loan body for 6 months.
Acceptance of applications for a "One-percent" microloan in the same way with federal programs starts on November 1 and will last until December 31 of this year. The Ministry of Economy will continue monitoring the situation and, based on the sanitary and epidemiological situation and the period of restrictive measures, the deadline for accepting applications may be extended.
To support the catering sector this year, the Ministry continued to implement a program to subsidize the costs associated with paying for the services of food and meal delivery services; it was highly sought after during the restrictive measures of 2020, when the catering business was forced to sell products to end customers, resorting to the services of aggregators. This year, under the program, SMEs received subsidies for 48 million rubles. Due to the demand for the tool next year, according to the speaker, it is planned to extend the implementation of the program and include in it the period of the current restrictions.
The Ministry is also implementing targeted measures of financial support for self-employed citizens. Since October 11 of this year, applications have been launched and continue to be accepted under the program of subsidizing self-employed citizens in the amount of up to 200 thousand rubles.
In total, 1.2 billion rubles were allocated for state support of SMEs in the Republic of Tatarstan in 2021, and taking into account the existing capitalization of structures subordinate to the Ministry of Economy, the total amount of support is 3.55 billion rubles. For all SMEs and self-employed citizens, financial and non-financial support measures are available, including guarantees, microloans, loans, comprehensive services for entering marketplaces, product promotion, participation in exhibitions, bookkeeping.
A large request from the business community comes for the provision of reduction or deferral of rental payments, almost half of the respondents have such a need. At the republican level, the relevant decisions have been made – business entities will be granted a deferral on payment of lease payments for state property. Currently, the terms of the program are being worked out.
At the end of his speech, the speaker addressed all those present: "Given the experience of working in the pandemic year 2020, our joint task with our colleagues from ministries, departments, the Office of the Federal Tax Service, banks, municipalities and representatives of the media is to ensure maximum information and support for businesses so that every potential recipient of support can receive it."