Tatarstan has developed a package of measures to support business under sanctions
Today, a briefing was held at Tatar-inform, announcing a new republican package of measures to support business in the face of sanctions pressure. The speakers were the First Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan - Director of the Department for Entrepreneurship Development and Competition Rustem Sibgatullin and heads of business support institutions - Director of the Guarantee Fund Rustem Mukhamedshin and General Director of the Entrepreneurship Support Fund Aidar Salikhov.
The briefing was opened by Rustem Sibgatullin, who noted that the Government of the Russian Federation, in accordance with the operational plan of priority actions to ensure the development of the Russian economy in the face of external sanctions pressure, made a number of decisions on financial and non-financial programs to support small and medium-sized businesses.
Federal decisions provide for preferential lending programs of the SME Corporation, the Central Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, etc. These are the “Revolving” and “Investment” lending incentive programs at a rate of up to 13.5% for medium and up to 15% for small businesses. The soft lending program, the so-called "1764" program, has been resumed with similar rates. Starting from the moment the programs are launched, the Ministry of Economy monitors the participation of entrepreneurs in these programs, provides information and consulting support to businesses at the stages of obtaining support.
Special attention in the speakers' reports was given to the republican package of measures.
“At the Republican level, based on the results of meetings with representatives of public and business organizations, small and medium-sized businesses and feedback received from them, a package of support measures was developed and approved by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, which includes a set of measures, financial and non-financial programs” - said Rustem Sibgatullin.
He noted that in the current situation, concessional financing remains one of the most popular measures, it focuses on the widest possible range of entrepreneurs - social entrepreneurs, exporters, self-employed, farmers, manufacturing enterprises and other areas of activity.
Now the Entrepreneurship Support Fund, subordinated to the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan, is launching 7 microfinance programs, where interest rates are equal to the key rate of the Central Bank of Russia, which was in effect before its last increase.
Aidar Salikhov disclosed the conditions of microloans in more detail in his speech:
- the product "Import substitution" at a rate of 9.5% per annum, up to 5 million rubles for a period of up to 3 years - for SMEs from the fields of agriculture and manufacturing to search for a replacement for goods, raw materials and materials produced in unfriendly countries;
- product "Refinancing" at a rate of 9.5% per annum, up to 5 million rubles for a period of up to 3 years - for SMEs with a loan for investment purposes with a "floating" interest rate;
- Assistance product at a rate of 13.5% per annum, up to 5 million rubles for a period of up to
2 years - for all SMEs;
- product "Self-employed 2022" at a rate of 5.5% per annum, up to 500 thousand rubles for a period of up to 2 years - for self-employed registered in the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan;
- the Industrial Parks product at a rate of 9.5% per annum, up to 5 million rubles for a period of up to 3 years - for residents of industrial (industrial) parks with low occupancy;
- product "Social entrepreneurship" at a rate of 9.5% per annum, up to
5 million rubles for a period of up to 3 years - for SMEs included in the register of social entrepreneurs;
- the product "Export Development" at a rate of up to 9.5% per annum, up to 5 million rubles for a period of up to 3 years - for SMEs engaged in export deliveries of products.
The head of the Entrepreneurship Support Fund stressed that, as part of the package of republican support measures, businesses will also receive a deferral of payment of the principal debt on existing microloans for up to 18 months. Granting a deferment will reduce the financial burden on entrepreneurs, which is especially important in the current period.
Another instrument of financial support included in the Republican package of measures was the guarantees of the regional Guarantee Fund with zero commission for the first 6 months, increased the amount of the guarantee to 70 million rubles and reduced from 1% to 0.5% interest rate charged after 6 months .
“Also, entrepreneurs of the republic will be able to restructure loans under the guarantee of the regional Guarantee Fund with the provision of a grace period for paying commissions up to 3 years, at 0.5% per annum, in the amount of up to 70 million rubles,” Rustem Mukhamedshin noted in his report.
An important support mechanism aimed at developing entrepreneurial initiatives will be grants for social businesses and young entrepreneurs under the age of 25. The implementation of support is carried out within the framework of the national project "Small and Medium Enterprises and Support for Individual Entrepreneurial Initiatives".
Also, within the framework of the national project, comprehensive information and consulting support for businesses and the self-employed will continue, including placement on Russian and international marketplaces, holding training events, exhibitions, fairs, forums, services to promote goods in Russian social networks, support for exporters and their reorientation to markets of friendly countries.
This year, the implementation of the program will continue to provide subsidies to reimburse part of the costs for consumed electricity for residents and management companies of industrial (industrial) parks.
“In addition, as part of the concept of developing industrial parks to provide comfortable conditions for the activities of residents, a new program has been developed to create and modernize the necessary engineering infrastructure for accredited industrial parks located in municipal areas,” Rustem Sibgatullin said.
Under the pressure of sanctions, the priority is the prompt replacement of foreign goods with domestic counterparts. In Tatarstan, for these purposes, an "Import Substitution Center" was created on the basis of the Republican Marketing Center. The resource is freely available on the RMC website.
This mechanism consists of two sections:
- "Register of previously purchased imported products";
- "Replacement proposals".
The resource allows you to collect information about import-substituting products manufactured in the country, to provide assistance to customers whose activities depended on the import of components, goods, raw materials and equipment from unfriendly countries.
This year, in the Republic of Tatarstan, 1.2 billion rubles have been allocated for state support of SMEs, and taking into account the existing capitalization of structures subordinate to the Ministry of Economy, the total amount of support will amount to 4.5 billion rubles.