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- Spot-on answer: government support for SMEs and the self-employed has fallen by almost 40%
Spot-on answer: government support for SMEs and the self-employed has fallen by almost 40%
State support for SMEs and the self—employed has fallen by almost 40% over the year - in the first six months of 2025, it amounted to 165 billion rubles. This is stated in the HSE study (it was studied by Izvestia). The impact was a decrease in lending, optimization of budget expenditures and the replacement of mass support measures with more targeted ones — only for businesses from priority sectors. In a negative scenario, a reduction in state aid could lead to higher unemployment and lower economic growth, experts fear. On the other hand, they point out that businesses should not be completely dependent on assistance.
Reducing support for SMEs and the self-employed
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), as well as the self-employed, received 164.9 billion rubles in state support in the first half of 2025. This is 39% less than in the same period of 2024, according to the HSE's "Comments on Government and Business." In addition, the number of recipients dropped by 22%.
SMEs and the self—employed can receive government assistance in the form of preferential loans (rates depend on the specific program), subsidies for the development of their own business, grants, unsecured loans secured by the SME Corporation, insurance premiums at a reduced rate (7.6% for IT companies and organizations in the manufacturing sector), as well as through tax deduction when registering as self-employed and through a number of other measures.
In 2025-2030, the authorities planned to allocate 330 billion rubles to support SMEs. This is 20% less than in the previous six years, Izvestia previously reported. However, this amount does not include support for the self-employed, it will be accounted for separately.
In August, it was also reported that Russia may waive reduced insurance premiums for small and medium-sized businesses.
The decrease in state support is due to the fact that programs are now gradually being rebuilt: the emphasis is shifting towards targeting and strict selection of applications, as well as from direct subsidies to contractual support through purchases from SMEs, said Daniil Gonenko, associate professor of Economics and Finance of the Public Sector at the Presidential Academy. In addition, expensive market loans have "washed away" some of the demand for subsidized products: entrepreneurs have postponed the decision to take out a loan in anticipation of better conditions, he added.
Against the background of a record high key interest rate of 21%, businesses borrowed less and less. From January to April 2025, SMEs received 4.53 trillion rubles in new loans. This is a 14% decrease compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the share of preferential programs in new loans decreased from almost 9% to about 5%, and, as Izvestia wrote, one in ten small companies with loans has problems paying them off.
Nevertheless, earlier the authorities reported that assistance to companies is one of the priorities. Russia will do everything to support its business, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March. The government and the regions should provide and are providing the necessary assistance, he said.
The editorial board sent a request to the Ministry of Energy on how support for SMEs and the self-employed is being transformed.
Which companies can count on government support
— This year, the volume of popular government-backed lending programs has been reduced. Previously, a wide range of SMEs applied for it, but now only entrepreneurs from priority sectors — manufacturing, logistics, IT, and the tourism industry," explained Dmitry Zavyalov, Head of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Logistics, Dean of the Faculty of Higher School of Economics and Business of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
Instead of increasing the amount of support, the government is now focused on optimizing existing mechanisms and creating more targeted measures, agrees Egor Diashov, chairman of the Financial Markets Commission of the Moscow branch of Opora Russia.
For example, new conditions for preferential loans under the 1764 program are currently in effect. If the Central Bank's rate is above 12%, then the preferential rate for such loans is calculated as a key minus 3.5%. However, an important difference between this measure and the previous one is a stricter selection of recipients with an emphasis on a qualitative contribution to the economic development of the country, and not just on the number of enterprises, he explained.
It has become more difficult for businesses to meet the formal criteria for receiving state support measures, said Alexey Kuchmin, a member of the Business Russia coordinating council. In addition, some SME companies have gone bankrupt, while existing enterprises are wary of new directions and projects and prefer to maintain current financial stability, he added.
Reducing government assistance to businesses may pose risks to the economy, experts said.
— The introduction of new technologies slows down, and this reduces productivity. Meanwhile, it is small and medium—sized businesses that react faster to changes, create jobs, introduce innovations, which are then transferred to the macro level," said Daniil Gonenko.
The financial difficulties of a business directly affect the overall economic situation, said Egor Diashov from Opora Russia. Support for SMEs contributes to stabilization, increased competitiveness and GDP growth, he added. In addition, small and medium-sized businesses are often the main employer in some regions. And bankruptcy leads to an increase in unemployment, the expert said.
The number of people employed in the SME sector in 2024 exceeded 29 million, which is 29.2% more than in 2019.
— Access to finance is a key factor in the competitiveness of enterprises. Without it, companies cannot develop, modernize and effectively compete in both domestic and foreign markets," concluded Egor Diashov.
At the same time, according to Dmitry Zavyalov from Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, against the background of widespread support provided to businesses, first in pandemic and post-pandemic times, and then during the period of sanctions pressure, the current funding volumes may seem modest. However, they should not be considered solely as a marker of SME development. According to the expert, businesses should not be completely dependent on this assistance.
In the future, the situation will still be influenced by the parameters of preferential loans, says Daniil Gonenko from the Presidential Academy. Other factors of SME development include the level of the key rate and the speed of payments in the public sector.
The market expects that by the end of the year the Central Bank may reduce the rate to 15-16%. This will make bank financing more accessible to businesses.
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