State support was scanned – Newspaper Kommersant No. 18 (7463) dated 02/01/2023
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Russian manufacturers of office and telecom equipment will be able to apply for preferential loans for the purchase of components. They expanded the measures that have been in force since 2022 for vendors of computer technology, which have already received about 100 billion rubles. preferential loans from Sberbank, VTB and Alfa-Bank. At the same time, the measures are mainly suitable for large players, since the minimum loan amount is set at 3 billion rubles. Market participants admit that the problem with access to funds is no longer too acute – at the end of 2022, customers began to switch to advance payments. They call the issue of optimizing the logistics of supplying components more relevant.
The concessional lending program, which has been available to manufacturers of computer equipment since March 2022 (computers, laptops, tablets, servers, data storage systems), has been extended to manufacturers of telecommunications and office equipment (printers, scanners, faxes, mobile and landline phones, routers, modems, etc.). Such amendments to government decree No. 407 are published on the government website. For manufacturers of computer equipment, the support program becomes indefinite from 2023, in addition, the period of concessional lending within its framework has been increased from one year to five.
Manufacturers can get loans from 13 banks (VTB, Sberbank, PSB, etc.) at a rate of 1-5% per annum to replenish stocks of components. The shortfall in income on loans due to subsidies to banks is compensated by the Ministry of Digital Development. The minimum loan amount is 3 billion rubles, the maximum is 100 billion rubles. The fact that such measures are being discussed was reported by Kommersant on November 2.
According to a Kommersant source on the market, in 2022, equipment manufacturers have already received about 100 billion rubles as part of soft loans, which “allowed us to solve the problem of working capital, when at the beginning of the sanctions, distributors began to demand an advance payment.” Most often, according to him, he managed to get loans from VTB, Sberbank, Alfa-Bank. They did not specify the amount of lending under the program. The Ministry of Digital Development did not respond to a request.
Preferential lending to electronics manufacturers is one of the most effective programs to support the industry, says Vladimir Stepanov, President of Aquarius Group. The group itself raises funds from Sberbank: “This allowed us to increase working capital and, as a result, increase the output of Russian computer equipment by tens of percent last year compared to 2021.”
For manufacturers of telecommunications equipment, the problem of access to loans for the purchase of components in 2022 was as acute as for computer equipment vendors, but according to the formal terms of the program, they could not qualify for benefits, notes a Kommersant source close to the government. Particularly serious, he adds, were the difficulties with the supply of semiconductor products for wired and wireless communications from the American Broadcom.
These problems persist even now, admits Ivan Pokrovsky, executive director of the Association of Russian Developers and Manufacturers of Electronics. But, according to him, now the issue of access to working capital “is no longer as acute for the industry as it was at the beginning of 2022, since in November-December many large customers began to switch to advance payments.” “Concessional lending will now help vendors fill warehouses with imported components for the future, if, of course, they have logistics built in,” the expert adds. The development of a replacement component base for manufacturers of telecommunications equipment, says Mr. Pokrovsky, requires “more extensive support measures, other amounts and terms of lending.”
The CEO of Zelax (produces modems, gateways, routers) Sergei Sukhman agrees with this: “The problem of expensive loans is relevant for the industry, but now manufacturers need government assistance in solving logistical problems more. At the moment, market participants organize supplies on their own, as best they can, which generally slows down the production process, even if there are funds.”
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