Only 7% of small companies are willing to take out loans at rates of 20% or higher

Only 7% of representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are ready to take out a loan at a rate above 20%. This follows from a study by the PSB and Opora Rossii (Izvestia has it), which they conducted when calculating the RSBI (Russia Small Business Index) index. It is used by the Central Bank when making decisions on the key rate.

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At the same time, every fifth company named a marginal rate of 6-10%. Another 20% of respondents are ready to take out a loan at 15-20%.

A company can be classified as an SME only if its income and number of employees are below a certain level. As a rule, these are small organizations for which a loan rate of 20% or more creates a high level of financial burden, said Valeria Gerasimenko, Chairman of the Council of the Union of Arbitration Managers of the National Center for Restructuring and Bankruptcy.

However, according to Oleg Skapenker, Associate Professor of the Department of Global Financial Markets and Fintech at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, mass bankruptcies of small companies are possible if they take on an overwhelming burden.

"At the same time, banks, as professional lenders, in most cases will not allow this — their risk management system is aimed at issuing repayable loans," the expert emphasized.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Production promise: small business did not receive preferential loans