Payments, stop, one-two – Newspaper Kommersant No. 186 (7387) dated 10/07/2022

The Ministry of Economy has prepared changes to the regulatory framework governing the fulfillment by SMEs of the conditions for providing grants, soft loans and microloans, payments on them for mobilized owners of small and medium-sized businesses are proposed to be stopped until they return to normal life. The requirements for the fulfillment of obligations under grants can be extended for the period of mobilization or mitigated if they are not feasible, Tatyana Ilyushnikova, the relevant deputy head of the Ministry of Economy, has already sent letters to the governors and heads of departments that are parties to agreements on the provision of state support for SMEs. The regions themselves, which provide such support through subsidies from the Ministry of Economy, will also be able to adjust agreements on them.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the prepared by the Ministry of Economy package documents aimed at mitigating the economic consequences of mobilization for small and medium-sized businesses, the ministry does not comment on their content, but confirms the fact of sending and content. Government, recall, on behalf of First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, is preparing an analysis of the negative impact of mobilization on the state of the economy, financial and labor markets, business and investment activity and measures to minimize it. The proposals of the Ministry of Economy include amendments to the order of the ministry No. 142 dated March 26, 2021 – it describes the requirements for the implementation of state support measures for SMEs and the self-employed, as well as explanatory letters from the curator of small businesses, deputy head of the department Tatyana Ilyushnikova to banks and ministries participating in preferential lending programs for the sector .

Amendments to the rules for microfinance for SMEs and the self-employed introduce a differentiation in the maximum size of microcredits – up to 5 million rubles. for SMEs and up to 500 thousand rubles. for the self-employed in a microcredit company (it was up to 1 million rubles) and up to 1 million rubles. in the state microfinance organization.

At the same time, during the mobilization of the borrower, the Ministry of Economy proposes to suspend the fulfillment of obligations on microloans, for this, until December 2023, it will be necessary to sign an additional agreement to the loan agreement.

Its term can also be extended, but should not exceed five years.

A similar rule is proposed to be applied to recipients of grant support (recall that within the framework of the national SME project by government decree 1492 of September 18, 2020, it is provided to young entrepreneurs under the age of 25).

An additional agreement will be signed with them to extend the timeframe for achieving the results of the grant without changing its size, and in case of impossibility, to reduce the requirements or return the unused grant “without applying penalties.”

Since the ministry distributes such grants through regional administrations, providing them with subsidies for these purposes, the agreements themselves on their allocation to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation can also be revised by “concluding additional agreements” with the Ministry of Economy with an extension for up to two years or with a decrease in target indicators. To this end, Ms. Ilyushnikova recommends “making changes to regional legal acts”, providing the subjects of the Russian Federation with the opportunity to amend agreements on the provision of subsidies.

Also, perhaps, fearing inconsistencies or massive refusals by banks to provide SMEs with preferential loans under another state support program – the payroll program 3.0 approved by government decree dated February 27, 2021 No. 279 (loans at a rate of 3% per annum while retaining at least 90% of employees),— Inna Dadayan, Head of the Investment Policy and SME Development Department of the Ministry, sent a letter to the participating credit organizations, in which she specifically notes that, in accordance with Government Decree No. related relations in 2022 and 2023”, the effect of labor contracts and service contracts with mobilized people is “suspended”, “the termination of these labor contracts and service contracts is not allowed, jobs for mobilized citizens will be saved”, that is, to fulfill obligations under such loans mobilization not with it seems (the increase in the risks of their non-return is not discussed in the letter).

Another letter from the Ministry of Economy concerns its colleagues in the government implementing joint programs to support SMEs, these are the Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Tax Service, the SME Corporation, the Russian Export Center and the Fund for Assistance to the Development of Small Forms of Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere, from they are waiting in the ministry for proposals for adjusting projects, which may also be affected by mobilization.

It should be noted that the package of the Ministry of Economy can remove the most common questions about the impact of mobilization on the obligations of the owners of small and medium-sized companies, in which the authorities have so far seen the source of the future development of the investment and business environment in the Russian Federation, and not a mobilization resource. However, the real impact of their participation in a military operation may later require, obviously, much more extensive changes in regulatory acts – so far, clashes of the military and economic interests of the state have simply not occurred on such a scale.

Oleg Sapozhkov, Diana Galieva