In 2021, the Russian government plans to reduce the average rate under the concessional lending program for small businesses.

This was announced on Wednesday, September 23, by First Deputy Prime Minister of the country Andrei Belousov during a speech at the Federation Council.

“The system of concessional lending to small businesses with a reduced interest rate will receive further development.

In 2021, we plan to reach an average interest rate on subsidized loans of no more than 7% per annum.

Let me remind you that now it is 8.5%, and the average rate on loans received by small and medium-sized companies outside this system is about 10%, ”Belousov said.

The business lending program with state support has been operating in Russia since 2019.

Under its terms, an entrepreneur can get a loan at a rate of 8.5% for investment purposes, replenishment of working capital and repayment of previously taken loans.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, since the beginning of 2020, small and medium-sized businesses have drawn up 10.5 thousand agreements at a preferential rate for the amount of about 712 billion rubles.

Expansion of the program of concessional lending will speed up the recovery of small businesses in Russia, experts say.

During the period of self-isolation, many small companies were forced to suspend their activities or completely close down.

It was especially hard for the enterprises of the service sector, tourism and the hotel business, says Vasily Karpunin, head of the information and analytical content department of BCS Broker.

“Entrepreneurs, whose business is tied to organizing mass events and the offline entertainment industry, also faced problems.

Public catering suffered to a lesser extent, which was able to switch to the delivery of its dishes to customers.

In general, a decrease in interest on loans will allow the most affected companies to restore their former capacities in a shorter time, provided that the procedure for obtaining loans is as transparent as possible, "Karpunin said in a conversation with RT.

Note that significant support to business was provided by measures of financial assistance from the state, taken during the pandemic.

In particular, we are talking about the provision of credit holidays, tax breaks, a moratorium on inspections and direct payments.

In addition, insurance premiums were reduced for small and medium-sized enterprises.

This benefit will become permanent and will continue even after the crisis.

At the same time, the authorities took unprecedented measures to support IT companies in the form of a reduction in the profit tax rate from 20 to 3%.

At the same time, the most popular measure of support among businesses is the payroll loan program at a preferential rate of 2% per annum.

Pavel Sigal, vice president of the all-Russian organization of small and medium-sized businesses "Support of Russia", told RT in an interview with RT.

Enterprises are obliged to use the money received at a low interest rate to pay salaries to staff at the rate of one minimum wage (12,130 rubles) per employee.

At the same time, the loan itself can be partially or completely written off if employers keep their jobs.

“In many ways, it is this tool that has kept many companies and a large percentage of the workforce afloat,” added Sigal.

Since the beginning of 2020, the authorities have allocated about 1.4 trillion rubles from the budget to finance preferential credit programs for businesses.

This was previously stated by the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Makism Reshetnikov.

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Further expansion of the state support package will help entrepreneurs to increase the wage fund and accelerate investment growth of companies.

This opinion was expressed in an interview with RT by Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge, NRU HSE.

“The reduction in the cost of loans for business, even by 1.5 percentage points from the current level, will allow enterprises to invest more in the modernization of production, as well as spend money on increasing the salaries of employees.

At the same time, due to the growth of industrial production and domestic consumption, many key sectors of the economy are developing, which, as a result, has a positive effect on the annual GDP, ”the expert emphasized.

According to the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development, as a result of the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Russia's GDP may decrease by 3.9%.

However, already in the third quarter of next year, the rate of economic growth may return to the pre-crisis level, they are confident in the department.

According to Georgy Ostapkovich, in 2021 the country's GDP will show compensating growth within 3%, and in 2022 it will add about 2.5%.

In many respects, the recovery of the indicator will be associated with business support, Pavel Sigal believes.

“The well-being of the regions and their financial stability largely depend on the development of small and medium-sized businesses.

In some localities, there are no city-forming enterprises and the bulk of tax revenue comes from entrepreneurship.

Such companies create jobs and stimulate demand, so economic recovery is impossible without them, ”the expert concluded.