The payment is clear: companies in bankruptcy will be able to receive loans
Companies in bankruptcy will be allowed to issue loans. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak instructed the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service to work out such measures for businesses in the status of bankruptcy rehabilitation procedures, Izvestia found out. Currently, companies with this status have no chance of getting loan approval. The authorities are preparing this measure against the background of continuing bankruptcy risks for coal miners, developers, transport companies, etc. On the one hand, the innovation will help to avoid the closure of enterprises and save jobs. But on the other hand, money should be given out only after a thorough economic assessment of the situation, clearly understanding that companies will be able to return it, and banks have sufficient reserves, experts say.
Loans to businesses after the start of bankruptcy proceedings
The authorities are working on easing restrictions for debtor companies, Izvestia has learned. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak instructed to work out the possibility of issuing loans to them even after the initiation of bankruptcy rehabilitation proceedings, as indicated in the minutes of the June meeting with the official (Izvestia has reviewed the document).
— According to current legislation, if a legal entity is in bankruptcy proceedings, the incoming funds are sent to pay creditors. In other words, banks are forced to give money without guarantees of return, so they do not coordinate such transactions. Exceptions are possible by court order, but there is no single approach to this issue. In fact, the government is forming a new mechanism where debtor companies will be able to receive stabilization loans for urgent needs," said Dmitry Tortev, a member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition.
Such funds will be transferred to special accounts to guarantee a refund to banks, or they will be allocated to projects of high social significance, the expert admitted. For example, to support the work of city-forming enterprises if they find themselves in a difficult financial situation.
The mechanism will have to be formed by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Federal Tax Service as part of the preparation of a National model of targeted business conditions, the document says. The national Model is a set of measures aimed at improving the investment climate. As Izvestia wrote, Vladimir Putin announced work on it in June at SPIEF 2025. The Head of State noted that the government is preparing a National Model together with entrepreneurs, industry experts, and ASI specialists. The document must be approved by the end of 2025.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the Ministry of Economic Development, the Federal Tax Service, the ASI, as well as the office of Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
— The government's consideration of the issue of easing restrictions for debtor enterprises can be considered as an anti-crisis measure aimed at strengthening those industries that have been more affected by sanctions and the general deterioration of the economic situation. During the rehabilitation procedure, there is still an opportunity to protect the company from complete cessation of operations and save jobs, for this additional financial support is needed," Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Yuri Fedorov explained to Izvestia.
Such a measure is especially important for remote regions of the country and small settlements, where bankruptcies of backbone enterprises lead to significant social consequences, the senator stressed.
Which industries need support
The authorities are preparing the discussed support measure against the background of the difficult situation in a number of industries: There are still bankruptcy risks for developers, coal miners, transport companies and a number of others, Dmitry Tortev noted.
— In some ways, the recommendations of the meeting resemble the Soviet practice of "preferential funds" for priority enterprises. At that time, enterprises were allowed to buy the required amount of resources at a fixed price. Now there are no funds, and there are no fixed prices, but you can allow some company to give money on special conditions, and then it will buy resources that it could not otherwise buy," the expert said.
In 2025, the Russian coal industry is experiencing an aggravation of the crisis against the background of economic and geopolitical challenges — since August 2022, a complete ban on the export of Russian coal to Europe has been in effect, Izvestia wrote.
Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin also said that 20% of developers today are at risk of bankruptcy, and market mortgages in Russia have practically ceased to exist. According to the official, if the situation with the key interest rate continues for another six months, there will be no influx of money into the industry, and residents will not continue to invest in real estate, the share of such developers will exceed 30%.
The proposed measure seems to be an extremely important and timely initiative that can radically change the approach to bankruptcy procedures in Russia, said Boris Fedosimov, Vice President of the NP OPORA Association.
"Today, rehabilitation procedures often turn out to be ineffective precisely because debtors lack access to working capital to continue their activities," the expert explained.
According to him, in most cases, enterprises get into procedures not because of fundamental problems of the business model, but because of temporary cash gaps or external shocks. With access to financing, many of them can be restored.
— In this case, we will actually be talking about easing budget restrictions for two sectors — fuel and energy and construction. Banks can increase lending either by lowering the key interest rate or by reducing restrictions on lending," said Dmitry Prokofiev, member of the Board of the Regional Initiatives Assistance Fund.
However, the expert stressed that if the measure leads to an incorrect assessment of the risks of lending, someone will have to compensate the banks for these losses.
Facilitating the issuance of loans to debtors should be carried out only taking into account a thorough economic assessment of the situation: it is necessary to understand that companies will be able to repay the money they have given, and banks have sufficient reserves, Georgy Ostapkovich, research director at the HSE Center for Market Research, told Izvestia. Support for individual industries should not be carried out to the detriment of the reliability of the banking system, the expert concluded.
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