Businesses started requesting loan restructuring one and a half times more often

In the fourth quarter of 2024, about 56,000 small companies applied for loan easing. As follows from the Bank of Russia's newsletter "Dynamics of household and Business Loan Restructuring", this is almost 40% more than in the third quarter.

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According to the most recent data from the regulator, by January 1, 2025, 646 thousand small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) had debts, that is, almost one in ten small companies with loans applied for restructuring.

Such enterprises are asking to restructure loans because they were previously forced to take them at a high rate and in special macroeconomic conditions, Alexey Krylov, an expert at the Council on Financial, Industrial and Investment Policy of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, pointed out. He added that the business was unable to earn enough to service its debt, despite the fact that the purchasing power of customers had also decreased.

According to Alexander Isaevich, CEO of SME Corporation, restructuring requests may also appear in regions where doing business is currently problematic. We are talking about the border areas near which the fighting is taking place, and the Black Sea coast, where there was a fuel oil spill.

Experts believe that a sharp increase in requests may affect the regulator, and it will not raise the key rate at the next meeting on March 21.