Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The President and the Government of Russia pay great attention to the development of the SME sector. Over the past few years, its share in GDP has grown by several percent and, according to the latest data, is 21.7%. The key task is to ensure high-quality growth of the sector, an increase in the income of SME workers at a higher rate in relation to GDP growth. Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak said this during the plenary session “The Role of SMEs in Achieving New National Goals” of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum – 2025.
According to him, small and medium-sized businesses have demonstrated better adaptation to new challenges and uncertainty compared to other sectors of the economy.
“SMEs are better adapted to ensure the formation of new transport and logistics chains, to ensure the supply of goods for export and import, the production of necessary products within the framework of import substitution, within the framework of the goals that are set for infrastructural changes in our economy,” noted Alexander Novak.
This was largely made possible by the successful implementation of the national project to support entrepreneurship: almost every second Russian is employed in SMEs.
“One of the indicators of the national project was the growth of the number of entrepreneurs to 25 million people. In fact, according to the results of last year, statistics show that more than 29 million people are already working in this sector. This is about 40% of all those employed in the economy,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
During his speech, Alexander Novak also outlined the current challenges facing SMEs. Firstly, this is a more active participation in achieving technological leadership and sovereignty, national goals for economic development. Secondly, in the context of historically low unemployment, increased labor productivity will not only resolve the issue of competition, but also increase the efficiency of the economy as a whole. Finally, active integration of digital technologies will allow more efficient solutions to be introduced into production processes.
The updated support measures within the current federal project will facilitate business development. Their fine-tuning by the Ministry of Economic Development took into account the life cycle of small and medium-sized businesses.
“For start-up businesses, these are microloans; it is planned to attract 1.6 trillion rubles by 2030. For mature companies, this is targeted provision of loans, umbrella guarantees of the SME Corporation. For businesses that are ready to enter the public market and attract investment, the state provides support in the form of subsidizing the costs of preparing for an IPO,” noted Alexander Novak, adding that the “traditional” business support infrastructure will also be developed: the digital platform “MSP.RF”, regional centers “My Business”, industrial and technology parks.
The need for entrepreneurs to keep up with current business development trends and actively implement the practice of working on digital platforms was also confirmed by the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Reshetnikov.
“The merger of the Growth Platform program and the My Business centers will allow entrepreneurs to be trained in modern trends. The world is changing so quickly that it is important to move forward, not to catch up,” the head of the Ministry of Economic Development emphasized.
The session was also attended by the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Kingdom of Bahrain Abdullah Adel Abdullah Fakhro, the founder of Wildberries, head of RWB Tatyana Kim, the president of the All-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized businesses “Opora Rossii” Alexander Kalinin, entrepreneurs who shared their experience of doing business.
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