Flood times: businesses affected in the Caucasus are asked to give a tax reprieve
The North Caucasus was seriously affected by the flood and heavy rains, and businesses should be given a tax deferral in this regard. Opora Russia sent a letter with such an initiative to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The association also asked to allocate funds from the government's reserve to SMEs from Dagestan and Chechnya and temporarily waive penalties and fines for late payments. The exact amount of damage to the business will still be assessed, but the amount will be at least several billion. What support measures the affected companies can receive can be found in the Izvestia article.
How to help entrepreneurs affected by the disaster
Many entrepreneurs from the North Caucasus regions, especially Dagestan and Chechnya, are suffering losses due to the worst floods in a hundred years. They lose their property, cannot fulfill their obligations, and suspend their work. In this regard, Opora Russia proposed to introduce measures to support the affected business. A letter with such an initiative signed by Alexander Kalinin, president of the business association, was sent to Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister (Izvestia has it). The Cabinet of Ministers sent a letter to the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Construction, Opora Russia reported. The editorial board contacted the government's press service for comments.
Opora Russia proposed allocating funds from the reserve fund of the Cabinet of Ministers to provide grants to small and medium-sized enterprises to restore business. In addition, they asked to grant small businesses a deferral in paying taxes, insurance premiums and postponing tax reporting deadlines. And also — not to charge penalties for overdue payments and in case of incomplete or late payment of utilities. Izvestia sent inquiries to the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service about how they assess the initiative.
On April 6, President Vladimir Putin instructed the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kurenkov, and the head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, to provide all necessary assistance to those affected by abnormal precipitation.
Now the amount of damage to the business has yet to be assessed, but the amount will amount to at least several billion, Alexander Kalinin, president of Opora Russia, told the editorial board. The affected regions will prepare their calculations and methodology. People, property and equipment are currently being rescued in the districts.
The business association already has experience working in such situations, Alexander Kalinin added. For example, during the floods in the Orenburg region in the spring of 2024, Opora Russia also asked to support entrepreneurs, Izvestia previously wrote. At that time, it was also proposed to postpone payments on taxes and insurance premiums to businesses affected by floods. The Government has approved these measures.
Heavy rains have not stopped in Dagestan since the end of March. More than 15 cities and towns were flooded, including Makhachkala, Khasavyurt and Derbent. In the Derbent district of Dagestan, a dam at the Gejukhskoye reservoir has burst. Local residents and rescuers pulled seven victims out of the water. Two of them, a pregnant woman and a teenager, died in hospital. More than 4 thousand people were evacuated from the flood zone. In addition, on April 5, an apartment building collapsed in Makhachkala, and a criminal case was opened into the incident. The districts of Chechnya were also flooded. An emergency mode has been introduced in the regions.
The damage is already measured in billions of rubles: in Dagestan alone, compensation to the population is estimated at about 4 billion. Thousands of facilities were destroyed and the basic infrastructure was disrupted, said Yaroslav Kabakov, Director of Strategy at Finam IC. And business losses have already amounted to at least 1 billion, added Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global.
— At the same time, it is quite possible that the actual amount of assistance will be greater, because it is assumed that taxes will be deferred to the budget. Moreover, many affected enterprises are technically unable to make payments now, as the banking infrastructure does not work properly after natural disasters," the expert explained.
What support measures are available to the affected business
Agriculture is suffering particularly badly from business in Dagestan right now — many people have taken out loans for the development of this sector, said Alexander Kalinin from Opora Russia.
People are not up to shopping, said Zulgimar Tagibova, chairman of the Dagestan Republican branch of Opora Russia. Shops are suffering losses due to heavy rain — some have closed until the situation improves. The agricultural sector suffered the most. More than 20 hectares of strawberries were lost in one of the districts of Khasavyurt. Weather conditions are also hitting the catering facilities, which are located in the basement of the premises, she added. Izvestia appealed to the authorities of the affected regions with a question about the level of damage.
Now businesses can take advantage of support measures under the federal project "Small and medium-sized enterprises and support for individual entrepreneurial initiatives," the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development reminded Izvestia. In particular, state microfinance organizations (MFIs) provide microloans for various purposes of up to 5 million rubles for up to three years. The agency also allowed the regions to set priority groups for SMEs in order to offer them preferential terms, such as a lower interest rate, they added.
Small and medium-sized businesses form the backbone of the economy of the North Caucasus. It is now important for entrepreneurs to receive support in order to continue their work, the press service of the SME Corporation noted.
The share of SMEs in Dagestan's gross regional product (GRP) in 2025 was 32%, and in Chechnya's GRP — 28%, Natalia Milchakova noted. In sectors such as retail and wholesale trade, catering, agriculture, the share of SMEs exceeds 50% in both regions, she added.
In 2025, more than 40 billion rubles were attracted to the region through state support tools, which underlines the sector's dependence on external financing, said Yaroslav Kabakov from Finam IC.
Regional authorities are already trying to help both people and companies. The head of Dagestan instructed to grant a delay in payments to tenants of the republican municipal property until January 1, 2027, Zulgimar Tagibova shared. Special commissions have also been set up to record the consequences of an emergency and its impact, including on the work of companies. The expert added: on April 6, the authorities of the region appealed to the Bank of Russia with a request to postpone repayment of loans for the affected residents of the region and not to charge penalties for deferred payments.
The realistic scale of assistance is tens of billions of rubles in the macro region, otherwise some enterprises will go bankrupt, Yaroslav Kabakov is sure. At the same time, the recovery time is not uniform: trade and service, if supported, can return to service in 3-6 months, while agriculture is only on the horizon of one or two years.
Effective measures in such conditions are direct payments, preferential loans with guarantees, restoration of infrastructure and actual tax holidays, rather than postponing deadlines. According to the expert, without large-scale and rapid support, the number of SMEs in the region is likely to decrease, and economic activity will roll back for at least one to two years.
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