Mishustin was shown Russian trucks without a driver and even without a place for him

Self-driving cars bought services of the airport in Dubai

Entrepreneurship Day in Russia was celebrated last Friday, but the events dedicated to the holiday stretched until Monday. In the Kalibr technopark, which has become a platform for start-ups and small industries, Mikhail Mishustin was shown how the capital’s small business lives today, including youth. The tour began with companies producing fabrics and down jackets, and ended with a demonstration of the most promising products to date, namely unmanned systems.

Electric trucks outwardly looked rather unusual: as the developers explained, they did not specifically alter ordinary cars, but developed an unmanned model from scratch. “It does not have pedals, a steering wheel and a driver’s seat,” the prime minister was explained. Such loading platforms are already operating in logistics parks and marketplace warehouses. And soon they will be exported: a batch of 13 “drones” was purchased by Dubai Airport. However, business does not want to be limited to closed territories. The new goal is to create an electric truck that can independently move from point A to point B for a distance of up to 1,000 km on public roads. “Transportation between cities will soon be autonomous,” entrepreneurs are sure. Mishustin expressed the hope that their ambitious plans would come true.

During the tour, flying unmanned vehicles were not shown: what they look like has recently been known to the whole country. The question that interested the prime minister: is it necessary to register drones? And what happens if this is not done? It turned out that it is necessary to register any UAV. But the punishment for violators is small: a fine and a ban on use. However, now this is in any case irrelevant: for security reasons, the use of drones is prohibited in Moscow and a number of other regions.

Mikhail Mishustin wanted to talk to the manufacturers of bank cards without the participation of the press. However, before that, they managed to publicly assure: problems with “plastic” in Russia are not expected. And in terms of quality, national means of payment will be even better than the departed Visa. True, the chips in the cards are still Chinese: for many years of import substitution, changes in microelectronics that are noticeable to the average person, alas, have not happened.

Separately, the head of the Cabinet talked with young entrepreneurs. Despite their tender age, some businesses are no longer childish. And some even supply their products – for example, biofuel fireplaces – to large companies. Mishustin’s attention was drawn to the shampoo-foam for animals without rinsing. The prime minister found out which of those present has a dog. And Sergei Sobyanin, who accompanied him, offered to test the novelty on Deputy Nechaev, or rather, on his pet. “Yes, let’s test everything on me,” the parliamentarian waved his hand doomedly. Fortunately, during the discussion it turned out that the foam is primarily designed for cats.

At a meeting of the government commission for the development of SMEs, Mikhail Mishustin said that future entrepreneurs can count on state support from the age of 14. They are given grants of up to 500 thousand rubles, and in some regions – up to 1 million rubles. In total, 28 million people are currently employed in small and medium-sized businesses in Russia – according to this indicator, the national project has long been completed and exceeded. But there are problems with returns: as the head of the Ministry of Economics Maxim Reshetnikov said, the contribution of Russian SMEs to the gross national product is noticeably lower than in Western countries. More than 50% of new companies, unable to cope with the difficulties, disappear before they reach two years. And only 3% (!) of microbusinesses dare to move to small businesses, because do not want to deal with an increased tax burden and more complex reporting. “It is necessary to ensure high-quality growth and acceleration of existing companies. So that the SME is not a tortoise shell that first protects and then hinders development,” Reshetnikov said.

Another ambitious task is to support and develop small businesses in new regions. In total, almost 70 thousand small and medium-sized enterprises operate in the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. “The institutional framework is being formed and newly created individual entrepreneurs and legal entities are included in the unified register of SMEs,” Mishustin said, expressing the hope that support measures in place in the rest of Russia will soon become available to entrepreneurs. What kind of business is ready to develop in the annexed territories was not specified at the meeting of the commission.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29039 dated May 30, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Plastics, drones and cat foam