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- Debt burden: The Russian Federation will adopt a law on credit holidays for businesses and the self-employed
Debt burden: The Russian Federation will adopt a law on credit holidays for businesses and the self-employed
The share of overdue loans from small and medium-sized businesses, according to the State Duma, has increased and now stands at about 5%. The State Duma plans to finally adopt a law on credit holidays for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) already in the third decade of July 2025, Izvestia was informed in the lower house of parliament. The law will allow businesses to receive a deferral in the payment of principal for up to six months for loans issued from March 1, 2024. This measure is designed to help businesses withstand financial difficulties in the face of economic volatility and a sharp increase in the key interest rate.
New credit holidays
The new law is based on the right of SMEs and the self-employed to apply for credit holidays once every five years, and the deferral period starts with an application and can be up to six months. Loans for which vacations are provided are limited to the maximum amounts currently set by law: up to 10 million rubles for the self—employed, up to 60 million for microenterprises, up to 400 million for small and up to 1 billion rubles for medium—sized enterprises. However, the government will approve the final limits, the State Duma noted.
— Credit holidays for up to six months will be provided at the request of the borrower without additional requirements, such as reduced revenue, belonging to a particular industry or other parameters. This is a fundamental difference between the new holidays and the decisions of 2020 and 2022, when a delay was given to enterprises from a limited list of industries," emphasizes Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market.
Borrowers will not need to prove a deterioration in their financial situation. At the same time, the credit history does not deteriorate when using vacation measures. You will have to pay interest on time at the agreed rate, but in case of delay of more than seven days, the interest is capitalized. When using guarantees or sureties for a loan, it is necessary to obtain consent for their extension.
"Moreover, the borrower gets the right not to pay the principal for six months, but the interest is paid," explains Oleg Nikolaev, member of the General Council of Delovaya Rossiya and CEO of Dalport Group. — Credit holidays give a chance, but strictly once every five years, and after the end of the period, the monthly payment will increase due to the capitalization of interest.
According to him, the loan holidays give the SME borrower the right not to pay interest on the loan for six months.
— This amount is not forgiven to him, no. It's just that the bank does not have the right to impose penalties and penalties at this time, much less demand a one-time repayment of the loan in full. And unpaid interest is attributed to the principal debt," explained Nikolaev.
Timing and practical implementation
It is planned that the law will be adopted on the 20th of July and will come into force on October 1, 2025, Anatoly Aksakov told Izvestia. An important feature is the retroactive effect on loans issued from March 1, 2024.
"Each bank will independently develop a procedure for applying for credit holidays, which will be available to borrowers, including through digital services," adds Elena Tkachenko, professor at the Department of Economics and Enterprise Management at St. Petersburg State University. — The procedure is quite clear and simple, especially considering the digitalization of banking services.
Alexey Kuchmin, a member of the coordinating council of Delovaya Rossiya, clarifies that this law applies only to loans issued outside of government support programs. At the same time, there are no formal restrictions on the type of credit institution.
The real impact of credit holidays on business
In the context of an increase in the key rate, the financial burden on SMEs has increased significantly. According to open data from the Bank of Russia, the number of loan restructuring applications is growing, but they are approved in less than a third of cases.
— The increase in the key interest rate affects the dynamics of SMEs applying for restructuring. In 2024, more than 167,000 restructuring applications were submitted, of which only 27.8% were approved," says Anton Beloglazov, head of the Laboratory of Evidence—based Economics at the Gaidar Institute. — Credit holidays will allow the business to get a temporary respite, regroup cash flows and stabilize operating activities.
The measure is aimed specifically at those companies that are experiencing cash gaps, but retain the ability to pay interest on loans.
— The introduction of credit holidays is associated with the growing indebtedness of SMEs at high credit rates, especially on loans with a floating rate. For such companies, credit vacations can become a significant survival tool," says Stepan Zemtsov, Director of the Center for Economic Geography and Regionalism at the Presidential Academy.
Vacations and sustainability
— Credit holidays allow you to postpone the loan settlement period by six months on a notice basis from the borrower. However, the main debt remains, and enterprises must repay it in a timely manner," says Vladimir Saskov, an expert at the Institute of Tax Management and Real Estate Economics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. — The measure increases financial manageability and is an effective tool for stopping short-term cash gaps.
Nevertheless, credit holidays do not relieve the entire debt burden.
— If the loan holidays included a delay in interest, it would strengthen the position of the company. According to representatives of SMEs, loans at 5% per annum would allow them to almost not need other support measures, — says Professor Elena Tkachenko.
"Granting a deferral on the principal debt on ordinary loans will increase the financial stability of SME companies and reduce the risk of defaults," comments Alexey Kuchmin. — At the same time, the law does not provide for covering the risks of banks and does not affect the Central Bank's standards for credit institutions.
An integrated approach to SME support
Senator, Arbitration Manager of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation Olga Epifanova recalled that earlier this year the Ministry of Economic Development announced the relaunch of the program of preferential investment loans to SMEs in priority sectors of the economy.
— Of course, this is very good, — says the senator. — However, in real life, not everything is so rosy. For example, according to a study by the Higher School of Economics, there was a noticeable decrease in the level of support for SMEs in the first quarter of this year, and the number of companies receiving state support decreased. The tightening of concessional lending conditions has led to such consequences.
Currently, according to her, support is mainly provided to enterprises working in the fields of science, information technology, manufacturing, logistics and tourism enterprises. Therefore, there is no need to talk about widespread subsidies to SMEs today, and the number of such companies requesting debt restructuring is growing, she noted.
"Perhaps there is a reason to review the list of priority sectors of the economy in the direction of expansion, so that preferential investment lending is available to a wider range of entrepreneurs," said Epifanova.
Ekaterina Avdeeva, Chairman of the Coordinating Council of the Business Protection Center, considers the adoption of the law an important step, but emphasizes that additional measures should be considered to effectively reduce the credit burden.
"Six months of credit holidays may not be enough if entrepreneurs do not review the cost structure and form a financial cushion," she notes. — In addition to vacations, we need subsidized interest rates, government guarantees and the possibility of debt restructuring. At the same time, measures should be targeted and aimed at the real sector of the economy.
In any case, according to Sofia Blagova, an expert at the Institute of International Economic Relations, the loan vacation mechanism has already proved its effectiveness and is aimed at preventing serious financial crisis situations for borrowers.
— At the beginning of 2025, a significant part of small and medium—sized businesses had loan rates in the range of 15-21%, and a fifth - over 27%, which creates a noticeable debt burden. The total debt of SMEs increased by 16.6% over the year, reaching 14.5 trillion rubles, which underlines the urgency and need to update the terms of credit holidays,— concluded Blagova.
Unfortunately, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation have not yet provided Izvestia with comments on the bill.
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