VEB will be responsible for technological sovereignty

The government, continuing to build the infrastructure for state support of priority technology projects within the taxonomy, approved a resolution to launch a VEB.RF guarantee program for them on the basis of a “project financing factory.” Let us recall that the taxonomy is a list of priority types of production and services to achieve “technological sovereignty”; it includes projects to create new capacities and technologies in industries with a localization rate of less than 50%, as well as allowing for the reorientation of product supplies from the Russian Federation to “friendly” countries. The measure is aimed at stimulating the production of scarce technological products (such projects receive bank lending at reduced rates due to lower risk coefficients), while it was planned to be supplemented with other measures of state support (see “Kommersant” dated April 27).

The approved program will be highlighted as a separate track in the work of the “project financing factory” (the main one is the issuance of syndicated loans) in order to increase the availability of loans. Thus, for “technological” loans that banks issue within the taxonomy for a period of 3 to 15 years, VEB.RF guarantees will cover from 10% to 50% of the principal amount. We are talking about fairly large projects worth from 1 billion to 20 billion rubles, while the investor’s own funds must be at least 20%. The guarantee limit will be 200 billion rubles, which will allow financing projects with a total value of more than 400 billion rubles. At the same time, as follows from the resolution, such “technological” loans will not be subsidized, unlike syndicated loans that are “usual” for a “factory”, for which the unchanged rates are thus ensured.

First Deputy Head of the Ministry of Economy Ilya Torosov noted that the decision will make it possible to extend risk sharing with the state to projects of technological sovereignty – such projects will become more attractive for business, and their number will increase. “The instrument will allow banks to reduce the burden on capital and expand opportunities for lending to priority projects for the country. The program provides for a simplified procedure for considering applications from credit institutions to provide a guarantee to VEB.RF. Currently, VEB.RF is working with commercial banks,” the state corporation adds. So far, according to Ilya Torosov, seven projects that meet the taxonomy criteria are being implemented. Among them are the construction of a plant for the production of components for batteries and solar panels in the Kaliningrad region, a composite shipbuilding shipyard on Sakhalin, and a nuclear energy research center in the Ulyanovsk region. In general, we are talking about projects in the field of transport and logistics, as well as the production of microprocessors, drones, robotics, and satellites.

Evgenia Kryuchkova, Diana Galieva