- Статьи
- Economy
- It doesn't count that way: who will be supported by the state, and who will be checked twice
It doesn't count that way: who will be supported by the state, and who will be checked twice
The State Duma adopted in the final reading a law changing the rules for maintaining the Unified Register of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The amendments are aimed at curbing abuses in obtaining state support, in particular the formal re-registration of businesses for the sake of subsidies. According to the legislators, all restrictions are necessary to eliminate loopholes. Previously, companies could formally change their organizational and legal form and thus gain access to government support again. This scheme will now be blocked. However, along with unscrupulous players, those who honestly develop their business may also suffer, experts say. Izvestia investigated what had changed, who would be affected, and how fair the new approaches were.
What has changed: the status of "newly created" is no longer for everyone
The adopted amendments introduce a clearer definition of who can be classified as "newly created" SMEs. This list will now include legal entities established from December 1 of the previous year to May 31 of the following year, as well as individual entrepreneurs registered during the same period. So far, the border has been less logical — from July 1 to June 30 — and has excluded a significant number of truly new companies from receiving support.
However, the key innovation is the exclusion from this category of organizations created as a result of the transformation of one organizational and legal form into another. We are talking about cases when, for example, an LLC is transformed into an JSC or vice versa. Such companies will no longer be able to automatically receive the status of a "newly created" business and, accordingly, qualify for "starter" benefits.
The reason, according to lawmakers, is that such transformations were often used as a scheme: an existing enterprise changed its shape, entered the register as a new one and gained access to preferences — grants, subsidies, loans at reduced rates.
An important innovation also applies to farmers: now not only the INN, but also the main state registration number (OGRN) will be entered into the register. This will help to avoid confusion when changing the head of a peasant (farmer) farm — the situation in which the INN changes, but the farm itself continues to work, will now be taken into account correctly.
According to the Unified Register of SMEs, as of December 2024, more than 6.56 million small and medium—sized businesses were registered in Russia - 4% more than a year earlier. In 2024, SMEs raised a record 1.18 trillion rubles with the support of the National Guarantee System. This indicates a high interest in government support — and at the same time the risk of its unfair use.
Conscientious or not: where is the line and how to draw it
The reaction of economists and the business community to the innovation is cautiously positive. Most experts admit that the previous rules did allow people to "bypass the system" and receive benefits for those who were not entitled to them. However, now the main thing is not to "overdo it" in the opposite direction.
As Anton Yakovlev, a representative of SKB Kontur, noted, limiting conversion schemes eliminates inequality: a legal entity, even after changing its form, was already functioning, which means it should not receive support as a beginner. At the same time, he draws attention to the fact that the bill deals only with transformations.
The expert draws attention to the fact that with a "simple OPF change" everything is far from so simple. The law restricts only one reorganization scheme — transformation. However, in practice, state and municipal unitary enterprises (GUPs and municipal unitary enterprises) are often transformed into joint-stock companies. It is clear that such companies often already have serious capital at their disposal, and it is strange to say the least, to provide them with support on a par with ordinary novice entrepreneurs, Yakovlev notes.
But in addition to transformation, there is also separation and separation, when one legal entity is transformed into two or more. This option is often found in the segment of small and medium-sized enterprises, but even with this form of reorganization, new companies can inherit a good resource base that is not comparable to really newly created companies. Unfortunately, these features have not yet been taken into account in the draft law, according to the Kontur Design Bureau. This means that unscrupulous entrepreneurs can take advantage of this gap. Moreover, separation and separation occur in practice more often than transformations, and it is often in this way that business fragmentation is carried out.
Experts consider adding the main State registration number (OGRN) to the register along with the INN to be a technically important step. The new accounting procedure, according to Yakovlev, is designed to streamline interaction with individual entrepreneurs and farms (peasant (farm) farms), where re-registration can occur repeatedly.
However, even in this seemingly purely technical area, there is a risk of legal conflicts. The Supreme Court previously pointed out that the absence of a company in the SME register should not automatically deprive it of the right to state support if it formally meets all the criteria. Yakovlev emphasizes that the new version of the law, on the contrary, works from the other side — it eliminates cases when an enterprise has already lost the signs of an SME, but continues to receive benefits due to its formal registration.
Oleg Nikolaev, co-founder of the Sevastopol Association of Winegrowers and winemakers and a member of the General Council of Delovaya Rossiya, believes that the innovation will not harm either honest or dishonest business. According to him, reorganized companies do not lose the right to be included in the register, but now they must undergo additional verification for compliance with the SME criteria. There will be no automatic entry into the registry, as before.
— All this does not mean at all that reorganized legal entities now lose their right to participate in the register of SMEs, — says Oleg Nikolaev. — They lose the status of a "new legal entity", which automatically equated them to microenterprises, exempting them from checking for compliance with SME criteria. According to the new rules, information about reorganized legal entities (which were reorganized before June 30) is still submitted to the Federal Tax Service, but only now they will have to pass a certain filter before being included in the register. So nothing threatens a bona fide business.
Dmitry Knatko, Academic Director of the Business Management Program at the Higher School of Economics, agrees with this. He notes that the law is in line with the policy of increasing the effectiveness of measures to support SMEs. Previously, access to so-called cheap money was often obtained by those who resorted to legal tricks.
However, Knatko also warns that now a blow may come to those who reorganize businesses for economic reasons, for example, to attract investments or to split assets.
Such companies run the risk of being left without "startup" support at the very moment when it is most needed. According to him, creative entrepreneurs will quickly find workarounds: creating new sole proprietors, splitting assets, and working through affiliated companies. That is, there is still a risk that abuse will remain.
Sergey Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasizes the importance of an individual approach. In his opinion, when applying the law, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between bona fide cases of changing the legal form and attempts to circumvent the rules. He believes that clear mechanisms should be provided for appealing refusals to be included in the register, preferably in a digital format accessible to all entrepreneurs. This is especially true against the background of the fact that even a technical error can cost a business the right to state support.
What to expect for business: less formalism, more precision
The law can become a truly effective tool in combating formal schemes if it is accompanied by thoughtful law enforcement practices and appeal mechanisms, entrepreneurs believe. Although for many businessmen, this is really a denial of access to "cheap money," sources among SMEs admit.
According to the Ministry of Economic Development, in 2023, more than 670 thousand SMEs took advantage of state support measures, receiving over 400 billion rubles through various programs: from grants to preferential loans. And if a business ceases to be considered "newly created" due to the new legal structure, it may lose the opportunity to take advantage of the initial support measures.
If the company was not included in the register for technical reasons, it may be refused subsidies by the local administration or the bank. Therefore, as Katyrin emphasizes, clear procedures for appealing decisions are needed, preferably in digital format.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the Federal Tax Service, and the SME Corporation.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
