Change of funds: assistance will be sent to cross-border businesses
The government will additionally allocate half a billion rubles to businesses in the border regions (Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions) and employees of these enterprises, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said. He noted that thanks to this, enterprises will be able to retain their labor collectives and the necessary equipped facilities. Izvestia investigated what other support measures could help the affected border regions.
Raising funds
With the help of financial instruments from participants in the National Guarantee System, operated by the SME Corporation, small and medium-sized businesses in the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions have collectively attracted more than 8 billion rubles in the first half of 2025, Alexander Isaevich, CEO of the SME Corporation, told Izvestia. This is 2% more than in the same period of 2024. At the same time, the number of recipients of support increased by 12%, to almost 800 companies, and the number of contracts increased by 20%, to almost 1,000.
— The largest amount of funds was attracted by entrepreneurs from the fields of trade (2.2 billion rubles), manufacturing (2.1 billion rubles), transportation and storage (1.6 billion rubles), construction (1.3 billion rubles) and agriculture (0.86 billion rubles). The largest increase in financing compared to the first half of 2024 was recorded for SMEs from the IT industry (an increase of 4.1 times), scientific and technical activities (2.8 times), transportation and storage (2.6 times)," he noted.
In addition, according to him, there is a special limit on "umbrella" guarantees from the SME Corporation for entrepreneurs in border regions, which allows businesses to attract the necessary financing even if there is a shortage or absence of collateral. For 2025, this limit is 3 billion rubles without restrictions by industry, which will allow SMEs to receive 6 billion rubles of credit funds.
— We see that this tool is in demand by entrepreneurs. Therefore, in the near future we plan to increase the volume of such guarantees in order to preserve entrepreneurs' access to debt financing to ensure business operations," Alexander Isaevich noted.
The SME Corporation, together with the Bank of Russia, is implementing a program of preferential loans to entrepreneurs in the border territories, he recalled. Under the program, businesses can receive loans at a rate not higher than the key rate, which is valid for up to a year, under the "umbrella" guarantee of the corporation in the amount of up to 30 million rubles. According to the results of the first half of 2025, the volume of contracts concluded under this program reached almost 3 billion rubles.
In addition, the SME Corporation's preferential leasing program is also available for small businesses in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions. According to it, enterprises from the manufacturing and light industry sectors can purchase new Russian equipment at a rate of 6% per annum and foreign equipment at a rate of 8% per annum.
Special attention
In the border regions, specially created commissions assess the damage and determine the estimated cost of the necessary restoration work, the head of the Popular Front told Izvestia. Analytics" by Olga Pozdnyakova. After that, a list of enterprises is formed to receive subsidies, which are used for repairs, construction, connection to infrastructure, purchase of production tools, and so on. A point tax relief was also introduced for affected enterprises. Therefore, we see that measures to repair direct damage are in effect.
In general, according to the expert, agro-industrial enterprises suffered the most serious losses due to the specifics of the business and the low mobility of the main industries. Industrial plants and small businesses also suffered direct damage. If we talk about indirect losses, then we can mention the trade and retail network, which in some cases faced a sharp drop in demand, and in others with a shortage of products due to supply disruptions. Due to the change in routes, the freight transportation sector has suffered — in the absence of insurance for new risks, costs have increased and delays in the delivery of goods have appeared. Tourism and the service sector, which are not vital, have suffered — they have receded into the background.
— It is also important to pay attention to the directions that are not supported yet. For example, agricultural research institutes have also suffered losses, but since they are not legally producers of products, they do not receive subsidies for restoration," Olga Pozdnyakova noted.
More than one and a half thousand enterprises in the Kursk border region are forced to temporarily suspend their activities, Petr Shcherbachenko, associate professor at the Financial University under the government, reminded Izvestia. In this regard, the government extended the deferral of taxes for entrepreneurs in the Kursk region and expanded the parameters of this support measure. Deputies and entrepreneurs identify deferred tax payments and compensation of two-thirds of salaries as the main measures to support Kursk business.
On behalf of the president, it is necessary to prepare a comprehensive rehabilitation program for the affected areas of the border region "as soon as possible," the expert recalled. This program should be provided with the necessary financial and material resources. Additional equipment and specialists will be involved, including specialists from other regions. The development and implementation of such a program is entrusted to the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Health, the Ministries of Transport, Energy, digital Development and Communications, education, as well as other departments. At the same time, it is important to maintain constant contact with volunteer and public organizations.
Possible measures
Any business is primarily about people, and a well—coordinated, well-established team is the foundation of any enterprise's functioning, Natalia Azhogina, associate professor of the Department of Economic Theory and Entrepreneurship at the Presidential Academy in Rostov-on-Don, told Izvestia.
— We need to identify other significant support measures. These can be considered: full exemption from taxes, with the exception of insurance premiums, which determine the future amount of pensions and other social insurance payments for employees, as well as the organization of methodological and advisory assistance during the recovery period," she said.
As part of this measure, in her opinion, it would be possible to organize mobile business incubators that would determine the legal aspects of business recovery, as well as restart business processes in new conditions. First of all, businesses that are low-mobility or completely stationary have suffered, but it is they who, as a rule, make up the economic base of the region, primarily agriculture, industrial enterprises, and catering services. Russia has accumulated a lot of experience in the field of national economic recovery.
Recovery is not a quick process, and measures related to the involvement of young people in this process will be required to achieve a long—term effect, the expert noted. This includes targeted training programs for economic and social recovery, patriotic education, as well as assistance in rebuilding homes or issuing housing certificates that can be used in specific regions.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Energy, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
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