Tax exemptions, help with going digital, adjusting loan payment schedules
— each region chooses its own business support measures during the crisis. The Roscongress
Foundation has prepared a digest examining existing practices from 41 Russian regions
— ‘Best regional practices to support small and medium businesses".
What strategies are the most popular among Russia’s regions during
the COVID-19 pandemic? Each of them finds its own solutions. However, there are
two general pathways — financial support and help in realigning business in a
new environment.
Thus, Vladimir Region, for instance, offers small and medium businesses
loans with a lower interest rate and a decrease in rent payments. It also came up
with debt restructuring help and loan co-financing at a discounted rate. Nenets
Autonomous Region provides an opportunity to set individual payment schedules
for microloans.
Ivanovo Region has a different response. It offers
its businesses measures that would help them adjust to the new environment.
Those measures include help in setting video conferences to negotiate with
international customers; master classes and other online seminars; involving
small and medium businesses in online trading platforms; providing information
and consulting services to SMEs by phone or through video conferences.
Moscow strives to make information available to entrepreneurs.
MBM.MOS launched ‘Coronavirus: what business should know’, a Telegram channel
offering updates on changes in business-related laws. It focuses on new business-related
legislation; support measures the city offers to its businesses; announcements of
online crisis relief seminars; helpful information on business operations
during the crisis; answers to the most burning questions entrepreneurs might
have; and a hotline for members of the business community.
You can find the updated digest on best regional practices
to support small and medium businesses on the official website
of the Roscongress Foundation.
