Anti-crisis without loans and a moratorium – Newspaper Kommersant No. 162 (7363) of 09/03/2022

The government has identified the first packages of anti-crisis measures, the effect of which it is ready to extend, and those that, on the contrary, it intends to curtail soon. As the head of the Ministry of Economy Maxim Reshetnikov said yesterday, the extension will affect 37 points of the plan of priority measures. These are, in particular, the permission of parallel imports and a simplified procedure for the sale of certain types of medicines. Programs being completed include preferential lending to strategic enterprises introduced at the peak of interest rates and a moratorium on bankruptcy that has had mixed consequences.

Economics Minister Maxim Reshetnikov announced the White House’s decision in principle to extend part of the anti-crisis measures yesterday. According to him, we are talking about the prolongation of 37 support measures. Recall that there are more than 300 events in the anti-crisis plan. Earlier, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, along with the completion of a number of targeted measures, announced the extension of some of the measures (see Kommersant of August 30). These are, for example, an increase from 30% to 50% in advance payments for state contracts and a simplified purchase by retail chains of shares in companies controlled by foreign owners. Yesterday, Maxim Reshetnikov did not disclose the entire list of renewals, reporting only on the priorities that remain: support for the population, simplification of the sale of certain types of medicines, and stimulation of imports.

As part of the latter direction, it is planned to extend the operation of the parallel import mechanism. Recall that since May 6, it is allowed to import more than 50 categories of products into Russia without the permission of the copyright holders and bypassing official distributors. Such an order was legalized temporarily – until the end of the year. By mid-August, as part of parallel imports, products worth $6.5 billion were imported (the main volume is auto parts, consumer products and critical imports), by the end of the year this figure is expected to grow to $16 billion.

With the legalization of the parallel import of goods in the government, the recovery of consumer imports is associated (its reduction is now estimated at 3-5%). Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry Denis Manturov promised that the temporary mechanism would end as groups of foreign goods are replaced by domestic counterparts, but so far, apparently, it is too early to talk about this.

It should be noted that this week the Association of Internet Trade Companies announced its intention to ask the authorities to prolong the regime in order to avoid a shortage of goods. Also, to support imports for a year, until September 2023, the simplified procedure for declaring imported products has been extended. We recall that it provides the applicant with the opportunity to assess the conformity of goods with mandatory requirements based on their own evidence without passing certification.

At the same time, Maxim Reshetnikov said yesterday that there are no plans to extend the current “package” zeroing of part of customs duties – we recall that duties on 1.3 thousand goods have been zeroed until September 30. According to the minister, further the authorities are ready to discuss targeted proposals of business in this area. In the meantime, as reported on the legal portal of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the Russian Federation has proposed to its partners in the EAEU to extend until March 31, 2023 the zeroing of duties only for certain types of products.

The program of concessional lending to backbone companies will not be extended either: at 10% per annum for the agro-industrial complex and 11% for industry and trade. This decision is connected with the fact that the program was of a situational nature: as Maxim Reshetnikov noted, it was introduced at the peaks of the Central Bank’s key rate.

The moratorium on bankruptcy, which is in effect from April 1 to October 1 this year, should also end. This mechanism involves a ban on the submission of insolvency applications by creditors in relation to all individuals and legal entities (except for developers who are included in the register of problematic ones). As the minister explained, the refusal to extend it is due to the fact that the measure was of an “urgent” nature. It should be noted that the nature of the moratorium, ambiguous in its consequences, could also play a role here. On the one hand, it is designed to prevent the emergence of a chain of non-payments in the economy, on the other hand, due to the “freezing” of enforcement proceedings, the moratorium endangers the financial position of creditors (therefore, utilities in the housing and communal services sector have already proposed partially lifting the moratorium, see “Kommersant” April 29).

Evgenia Kryuchkova