Board of Directors in the barracks - Newspaper Kommersant No. 182 (7383) dated 03.10.2022

Board of Directors in the barracks - Newspaper Kommersant No. 182 (7383) dated 03.10.2022



The White House will present the first set of measures this week to solve business problems due to partial mobilization - instructions to departments after a series of meetings were given by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov. According to entrepreneurs, at the meetings they discussed the risks of shutting down enterprises, as well as failure to fulfill obligations to the state, banks and counterparties. Another key issue - the possibility of deferment and booking for business - has not yet been resolved. Andrei Belousov will focus on the general economic consequences of partial mobilization, while Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov will deal with conscription issues. In the meantime, the issues of labor relations remain the most acute - the mobilization and mass exodus of Russians will lead to a shortage of labor, experts say.

As Kommersant found out, the risks of partial mobilization for business were discussed last week at two meetings with First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov. “The first block of measures to resolve the difficulties that small businesses and individual entrepreneurs have in connection with partial mobilization has been worked out and is undergoing the final stage of coordination - everything will be launched this week,” the official’s secretariat told Kommersant. Meeting participants say that the government needed to assess the actual impact of mobilization on enterprises - for example, the ability of companies to work, meet contract and loan obligations, problems with logistics and the supply of goods and services, the risks of defaulting on obligations to the state on grants and subsidies. After the meetings, the First Deputy Prime Minister instructed the departments to work out possible measures to support business and business community initiatives by September 30. “We need urgent answers to the questions of entrepreneurs. Meetings with the First Deputy Prime Minister on all difficult issues require prompt and well-considered changes in the regulation,” says Alexander Kalinin, head of Opora Rossii.

The business itself is ready to support the mobilized employees. The head of Delovaya Rossiya, Alexey Repik, is counting on relief for such enterprises by exempting additional payments from personal income tax. Elena Dybova, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, believes that “if, due to partial mobilization, an entrepreneur is forced to close his business, then, according to experts, the state should provide for the possibility of fulfilling social obligations to dismissed employees, if the entrepreneur himself does not have such an opportunity. If companies themselves provide additional support to their mobilized employees, such payments should be exempt from insurance premiums.

The second key request is delays and reservations from partial mobilization. The heads of four business associations and the SME Corporation sent a letter about them to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on September 29. The authors propose to grant a deferment to all individuals — founders of enterprises, their managers, chief accountants, individual entrepreneurs, heads of farms, whose call can stop work and lead to the failure of contracts and negative consequences for workers. The delay is necessary for devolution and formalities, and business suggests giving it to companies that have been in business for more than six months—so that you can't "open business to evade." The business is also counting on reservations for employees hired before September 2022: a quota of at least 30% of the number of employees with more than 15 employees and at least 50% - with a smaller number and for backbone, strategically important companies and participants in the supply chains of defense industry enterprises. It should be noted that the prospects for delays and reservations for partial mobilization were not discussed at meetings with Mr. Belousov - he analyzes the risks of mobilization for the economy as a whole. Denis Manturov is in charge of booking citizens at the level of deputy prime ministers - by order of September 29, he headed the relevant interdepartmental commission.

Meanwhile, counter trends are developing in the labor market - low unemployment is accompanied by a decrease in wages (minus 1.6% in January-July in annual terms, according to the Ministry of Economy, minus 0.5% in July, seasonally adjusted, according to the CMASF) and the lack of growth demand for labor - perhaps this is due to the uncertainty of business prospects. Analysts of the MMI Telegram channel note a decrease in the number of vacancies on the labor exchange (by 18.4% in August, 16.7% in July in annual terms). However, the trend will change in the future. “The impact of the departure of at least 700,000 people (migration and the first wave of mobilization) will lead to a labor shortage, and services will suffer especially,” believes Igor Polyakov from the CMASF.

Diana Galieva, Alexey Shapovalov



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