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Medvedev issues orders on support of small, medium enterprises

Last week, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with the government spoke about reduction of the number of small enterprises in the county

MOSCOW, February 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has issued several orders following a meeting on support of small and medium enterprises, the government reports on its site.

The ministries of economic development and of finances jointly with the Bank of Russia are ordered to speed up efforts in organisation of the federal guarantee fund for complex support of loans to small and medium entrepreneurs. They should analyse the current mechanisms of state support and to present to the government a report on raising the mechanisms’ effectiveness.

Last week, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with the government spoke about reduction of the number of small enterprises in the country. “The number of private entrepreneurs has unfortunately been reducing , and the tendency has not changed,” he said.

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said the number of private entrepreneurs in January of the current year had reduced by 10,500 people, which was caused by the cancelled discounted rate of insurance payments. From beginning of the current year, the government has returned the discounted rate for small businesses and self employed entrepreneurs. Shuvalov said however the negative tendency of reducing businesses still remained. “The number, of course, is not 100 thousand, like it was a year earlier, but still the figure is negative,” he said.

At a meeting on February 3, the prime minister said “the share of small and medium businesses in the economy is not big if compared to that in developed countries, and still the sector has been growing.” He said the share of small and medium businesses in Russia’s GDP was about 20 percent, or about 25 percent of all the employed. Medvedev said development of that sector was a direction of the economic policy, which among other measures used roadmaps.

“We suggest organising the national system of guarantee organisations, which will have one coordinating centre. It will be the Federal Guarantee Fund, as well as the Agency for Credit Guarantees. It will have a form of a non-banking credit organisation,” Medvedev said. The Agency’s objective will be offering counter-guarantees to regional guarantee organisations involved in those activities. “Guarantees the agency will offer should lower banks’ risks in crediting rather small businesses, thus adding to investments in that sector of the economy,” the prime minister said.

Russia’s finance ministry has prepared changes to the federal budget for 2014-2016, where the government will be able to invest in the chartered capital of the Agency for Credit Guarantees up to 50 billion roubles from the state budget. The Agency may receive in 2014 ten billion roubles, in 2015 - another 20 billion roubles.

Earlier, Russia’s Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulukayev said the capital of the Federal Guarantee Fund, which will support small businesses, may be increased from 10 to 30-50 billion roubles.