Intangible assets are asked to be presented for inspection – Kommersant

HSE ISSEK experts have identified a pool of Russian companies that can be classified as technological. Most of them belong to the enterprises of the manufacturing industry, scientific and technical sphere, trade and are based in Moscow, the Moscow region and St. Petersburg. The analysis was based on data on R&D and intangible assets (IA) from the financial statements of companies – this approach is used in international practice when providing state support to promising technology companies and will be used by the Russian government. However, the method is still limited by the quality and completeness of the data: out of 3.1 million legal entities, less than 0.2% report data on R&D expenditures and only 1.7% on intangible assets. To focus on technology companies, businesses need to be encouraged to disclose such data, the ISSEK notes.

Despite the fact that the register of technology companies has not yet been formed, it is already possible to conduct a preliminary assessment of the potential pool of such companies, the parameters of their innovative activity, industry affiliation and location based on open financial reporting, experts of ISSEK point out in a special issue of Monitoring the International Agenda in the Sphere of Science , technologies and innovations” (Kommersant got acquainted with it). Such companies, as international and Russian economists point out, play a key role in economic recovery, so governments are advised to focus state support on them. The Russian authorities recognize the importance of technology companies and strive to stimulate their development – in particular, they are seen as one of the tools to achieve the goal of transitioning to innovation-oriented economic growth. However, in order to create an effective model for supporting such companies, it is necessary to form their register, which is what the government is doing now (see Kommersant of May 2).

ISSEK experts identify such companies based on financial statements — they are increasingly being used to identify and provide support measures to promising technology companies around the world, experts say. The most common indicators of the scientific and technical potential of companies in it are data on R&D expenditures and the value of intangible assets. This practice is used in China, Germany, France, Spain, and Israel to identify technology companies at the national level and provide state support measures. The draft federal law “On the Development of Technology Companies in the Russian Federation” (submitted by the government to the State Duma) also provides for the use of financial reporting data, as well as specialized expertise to identify and monitor technology companies.

The problem, however, is that in Russia only a part of legal entities provide complete financial statements, follows from the monitoring of the ISSEK. Of the 3.1 million companies operating in the Russian Federation in 2022, only 52 thousand (1.7%) declared the presence of intangible assets in their financial statements, and 5.8 thousand organizations declared R&D expenses over the past three years ( less than 0.2%). R&D data mainly reflects manufacturing companies (39% of all organizations with R&D), science and technology (26%), information and communications (10%). Most of the companies with intangible assets account for wholesale and retail trade (24% of the total number of organizations with intangible assets), processing (21%) and scientific and technical activities (13%). Geographically, about half of the companies reporting on R&D and intangible assets are concentrated in three regions: Moscow (34% and 32%, respectively), St. the cost of R&D (54%) and almost half of the cost of intangible assets (48%).

Incomplete data on R&D and intangible assets are de facto the main limitation for the application of such a methodology. Earlier, ISSEK experts have already noted that organizations that use simplified accounting methods do not allocate this information in their reports at all (see Kommersant dated October 3, 2022). In addition, both criteria have natural limitations: intangible assets are a broad concept, and reporting does not allow assessing the value added received directly as a result of R&D. Part of the company’s total R&D expenses may also be hidden in the reporting, for example, they may be included in intangible assets or property, plant and equipment. In order to solve these problems and make technology companies visible to the state and other market participants, experts propose, among other things, to oblige companies at the legislative level to indicate data on R&D and intangible assets in their financial statements.

Venera Petrova, Diana Galieva