Maxim Kolesnikov: Tatarstan is in the top 3 for the development of the technological entrepreneurship sector
About 166 small technology companies (STCs) are registered in the Republic of Tatarstan. During the year, their number tripled, which allowed them to gain a foothold in the top 3 regions in the STC registry. In general, there are already more than 4.5 thousand of MTC in the registry, we expect another 7 thousand until 2030. This was stated by the First Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Maxim Kolesnikov, who reported during a meeting of the Operational Headquarters for ensuring socio-economic stability in the Republic of Tatarstan.
"The President has set the task of achieving technological leadership and independence. This is a major interagency effort in which the regions play a leading role. The Republic of Tatarstan is one of the driving forces of our regional events. Small technology companies have been identified as a separate area for achieving technical leadership. And the region is showing impressive performance in the direction of their development," noted Maxim Kolesnikov.
In particular, the average revenue of STC in the republic in 2023 amounted to 292 million rubles, which is 1.5 times higher than the national average. While, a year ago, the revenue of Tatarstan's STC was at the level of 200 million rubles. Almost every second company has a product on the market, and 40% have a ready-made product sample. The top 3 by industry are companies from the industrial sector, telecommunications and healthcare.
"To support and develop STC as the main driver of technological entrepreneurship in the country, we are implementing an ecosystem approach, the essence of which is to provide STC with end-to-end support measures at every stage of development, both at the federal and regional levels," explained Maxim Kolesnikov.
Among the key existing support measures for the STC, Maxim Kolesnikov outlined the availability of various grant programs for development institutions, benefits under industrial mortgages, accelerated patent registration, etc. Separately, the First Deputy Minister focused on the regional support track. Starting in 2025, the right to set a reduced income tax rate for the part that goes to the regional budget is provided. It can be reduced to 0% for the STC. At the same time, 12 regions have already used this measure to support companies. Also, the RF subjects are secured the right to establish an investment tax deduction (ITD) for corporate income tax for contributions to an investment partnership (IP) making venture capital investments in STC. The deduction can be up to 100% of the invested amount, and the exact amount of compensation is determined by the regional government.
"This year, it is planned to create new services for the STC and investors, as well as to post a simplified registration form and shorten the deadline for reviewing applications," said Maxim Kolesnikov, urging his colleagues to more actively implement measures to support the STC in regional legislation, not only for the development of technological entrepreneurship, but also for achieving national technical development goals.
"The STC status allows seamless access to support measures, without additional collection of documents and confirmations. Companies from Tatarstan are actively participating in the grant program for the development of technology companies to meet the requirements of large Russian corporations. Since the beginning of the implementation of this program, small companies in the republic have received grants totaling 1.2 billion rubles for the production of goods for the needs of large customer corporations," commented Midkhat Shagiakhmetov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Tatarstan.