All news

Central Bank to reduce burden on Russian companies amid coronavirus pandemic

The regulator has come up with a series of measures
Russian Central Bank Gavriil Grigorov/TASS
Russian Central Bank
© Gavriil Grigorov/TASS

MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia suggests that a number of measures to reduce the burden on Russian companies be implemented amid the coronavirus pandemic and a sharp drop of oil prices, particularly proposals to change the corporate legislation, according to a statement released on the regulator’s website on Friday.

"Those changes will allow adjusting the requirements on the date and formats of information disclosure, corporate actions to the current situation, keeping the necessary level of shareholders’ interests protection," the statement said.

For example, it is suggested that companies will be allowed to increase the terms of holding corporate procedures, as well as not to take into account the financial results of operations in 2020 from the viewpoint of the ratio of the cost of net assets to equity capital.

"A special refinancing program of the Bank of Russia, along with regulatory exemptions, will help companies keep access to bank loans and avoid financial insolvency amid decreasing revenues as a result of the pandemic," the regulator noted, adding that small-and medium-sized business are "one of the most vulnerable sectors of the economy amid the pandemic.".