Small business did not receive preferential loans

Small and medium-sized businesses have not yet received a new program for preferential loans, which the authorities planned to restart before March 5. Such a mechanism may start operating on April 5, a source familiar with the discussion told Izvestia. The press service of the Ministry of Energy did not give an exact date.

Profitable place: small and medium-sized businesses have received more than 1 trillion rubles due to state support

How entrepreneurs will be helped in 2025

The updated mechanism will extend to several areas — manufacturing, transportation and storage, tourism, as well as in the field of information technology and science and technology. Companies will be able to get a loan at a rate 3.5 percentage points lower than the key one — now it turns out to be 17.5%. The amount will also be reduced to 100 billion rubles annually.

Currently, preferential support is aimed at only a few industries. Alexander Isaevich, CEO of the SME Corporation, told Izvestia that the business association also concentrated assistance to companies in the fields of technology, tourism, scientific and technical activities and production.

Nevertheless, the authorities are looking for ways to motivate enterprises to invest in development. In particular, back in February 2024, President Vladimir Putin instructed to double the capitalization of the stock market to 66% of GDP by 2030. However, small companies are not in a hurry to launch an IPO yet, Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global, pointed out. She explained that entrepreneurs are not ready to meet the requirements for stock market participants, and investors may be wary of investing in SME shares.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Production promise: small business did not receive preferential loans