"The share of small businesses in the economy has reached a record 21.7%"

The share of small and medium-sized businesses in Russia's GDP reached a record 21.7%, exceeding the indicator of the oil and gas sector (16%). Alexander Isaevich, CEO of the SME Corporation, told Izvestia about this at the SPIEF. According to him, small business has ceased to be "small" in the traditional sense — for example, about 75% of patents for scientific developments now belong to small companies. In an exclusive interview with Alexander Isaevich, we will talk about how this business category has become one of the main drivers of the economy.

"It is planned to allocate 5 trillion rubles for the development of SMEs by 2030"

— The key rate of 21% was maintained from the autumn of 2024 to June of this year, but even after the reduction, it remains at a high level. Tell me, how has such a tight monetary policy affected the business and business activity of small and medium-sized businesses in general?

— Tight monetary policy affects small and medium-sized businesses in two ways. Firstly, companies that have already attracted borrowed funds are forced to adjust their financial models and look for alternative sources of financing. The second point is that the key interest rate directly affects preferential programs for SMEs, so the pace of lending has also decreased.

The government is trying to mitigate the situation through subsidizing interest rates and guarantee mechanisms, but problems persist. This is especially true for businesses where small turnover prevails — most often up to 10 million rubles.

Due to the fact that banks have begun to tighten the screws, and in the context of an increase in refusals to lend to small businesses, the demand for alternative financing tools is increasing, including "umbrella" guarantees for SME Corporations. This mechanism allows us to take on the risks for entrepreneurs and provide them with access to borrowed money.

In 2025, the volume of guarantees has already exceeded 240 billion rubles, which is 20% more than last year. It is clear that the rates even under the preferential program remain quite high — they are calculated according to the formula "key minus 3.5%". But we assume that the key rate will gradually decrease.

— How else does the government support businesses now, including through development corporations?

— For technological industries, including machine tool manufacturing and robotics, the SME Corporation, together with relevant ministries, has launched special industry support programs. We also maintained low rates for leasing industrial equipment — 6% for Russian and 8% for foreign ones. Together with the WEB.The Russian Federation has launched a program of joint "umbrella" guarantees for SMEs in the urban economy in the amount of 50 billion rubles (25 billion from each development institution). It will allow entrepreneurs to raise 100 billion rubles by the end of 2025.

The business support program is expanding, where we combine the capabilities of the corporation and regional guarantee organizations to increase the availability of business loans. Special attention is paid to veterans of their military who are engaged in entrepreneurial activities.

— How does the business feel about the June key reduction?

— As for the recent reduction in the key interest rate, there have been no significant changes in the situation so far — these preferential measures remain the main tool for supporting business activity.

— Apparently, the high interest rate will stay with us for a long time. Even if inflation reaches the target 4%, it is unlikely that the key rate will quickly return to the previous 8-9%. Do you plan to scale preferential programs in advance, expand them, or adapt them to new conditions? After all, your institution, in fact, assumes the role of a regulator: on the one hand, it helps businesses survive, and on the other, it directs its development in line with state interests.

— The development of the platform economy creates new opportunities that require adaptability from both small and medium-sized businesses and our support tools.

The main business needs come down to two key aspects: access to finance and product sales. Without addressing them, any support turns into a debt burden rather than a real benefit to the economy.

In terms of sales, data analysis shows significant changes in the structure of state—owned companies' purchases from SMEs - 46% of the total volume falls on the real sector. At the same time, a clear ecosystem is being formed, where manufacturing companies are adjacent to trading organizations that sell these products and service enterprises that generally make our lives better.

As for financing, it is planned to allocate 5 trillion rubles to the development of SMEs by 2030, of which 2.5 trillion will be received by entrepreneurs from priority sectors that form the supply economy.

"In the hotel business, three out of five new rooms are opened by SMEs"

— The President of Russia has set a goal to ensure real income growth per employee of an SME 20% higher than GDP growth. Tell me, how close is the business to these indicators? What is the current dynamics of the sector's income and its share in the country's GDP?

— Qualitative business growth has become a key priority while maintaining positive quantitative dynamics. The share of small businesses in the economy reached a record 21.7% and exceeded that of the oil and gas sector (16%).

— That is, we are approaching Western standards. Germany already has 46%, right?

— There are even more in Japan, but the structure of the economy is different there — the oil and gas sector does not prevail so much.

There is a steady development in three key indicators. The average age of SME companies is increasing from almost seven years old (it was five years ago) to seven and a half. There is also a growing number of companies that have moved within the SME segment to a higher business category — over the past year we have recorded 38 thousand such transitions, which is plus 30% compared to the previous period. There are also structural changes by industry: in the IT sector, every third website in the country is created by small and medium-sized businesses, in the hotel business, three out of five new rooms are opened by SMEs, and two out of three drone manufacturers are also SMEs.

Now small and medium—sized businesses are not just trading, as previously thought. About 75% of patents for scientific developments belong to SMEs.

450 thousand SMEs are registered in the manufacturing industry today, an increase of 10 thousand enterprises over the year. A unique program to support machine tool manufacturing and robotics has been launched for them jointly with the Ministry of Industry and Trade. About 400 enterprises have been selected as part of the preferential lending program for small technology companies, which we are implementing with the Ministry of Economic Development. Of these, only a third had previously interacted with the State. It is noteworthy that more than 90% of the program participants belong to SMEs.

— The feeling of some kind of catastrophe, that everything here is dying, it disappears absolutely. The growth is much more rapid than even anticipated.

— We predicted certain results, but this is not the key. The main thing is that entrepreneurs have received new opportunities and used them wisely with the support of the state. The high quality of products and services remains, despite concerns about a possible reduction in competition. Small businesses demonstrate the ability to offer high-quality solutions, which is noted by both large customer companies and financial institutions.

Today, it can be stated that small business has ceased to be "small" in the traditional sense. It has become a reliable partner of the state even in complex technological processes, confirming its importance in the economy.