Production promise: small business did not receive preferential loans
The authorities promised to restart the program of preferential loans for small and medium-sized enterprises by March 5, but so far this has not happened. It was assumed that under the new mechanism, companies would be able to obtain loans at a rate 3.5 percentage points less than the key rate. It will be introduced no earlier than April 5, Izvestia learned. For more than eight months, small businesses have been unable to borrow funds on affordable terms. On market loans for SMEs, the rates reach up to 30%. Only 7% of companies are willing to take out such a loan. Whether there are bankruptcy risks if a business gets loans at high interest rates, and when to wait for the restart of preferential loans — in the Izvestia article.
What kind of support does business have in 2025
Small businesses have not yet received preferential loans from the state. In 2025, the authorities decided to restart the SME support program. The Ministry of Energy planned to do this by March 5, by which time it had promised to select credit institutions that would issue preferential loans.
Prior to that, for six years, Russia had a broad support program under which SMEs from almost any sector could receive a loan at a rate of "key minus 8.75 percentage points for small and 7.75 percentage points for medium-sized enterprises." However, the last time the limits on it were exhausted was in the summer of 2024. And after that, the new authorities were not announced. Companies have not received such preferential loans for more than eight months.
The new support measure may become effective after April 5, a source familiar with the discussion told Izvestia. The press service of the Ministry of Energy does not give an exact date.
In addition to the delay in launching, the new preferential program is going to be greatly reduced. The mechanism will cover only a few areas — manufacturing, transportation and storage, tourism, as well as information technology and the scientific and technical sphere. Under the updated program, companies will be able to get a loan at a rate 3.5 percentage points lower than the key one — now it turns out to be 17.5%.
The amount of support will also be reduced — up to 100 billion rubles annually, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Tatyana Ilyushnikova said in an interview with Izvestia.
In other words, the authorities are gradually reducing preferential business support, making it more targeted. Now, until the relaunch of this program, small businesses have very few options left. Alexander Isaevich, CEO of the SME Corporation, told Izvestia that the business association also focused on companies from the fields of technology, tourism, scientific and technical activities and production.
In addition, they continue to issue "umbrella" guarantees until 2030, Alexander Isaevich added. That is, if an SME does not have enough property to pledge during lending, the state can assume part of the risk and act as an actual guarantor. But this measure is valid only in two sectors (light industry and hospitality) and only in some regions.
At what rate can a small business get a loan now
Another option to obtain financing for SMEs is market loans.
However, the average rate on them is now about 30%. The sector does not attract such expensive loans. Only 7% of small businesses are willing to take out a loan from a bank at 20% or higher, according to a study by PSB and Opora Russia, which they conducted when calculating the RSBI (Russia Small Business Index) index. It is used by the Central Bank when making a decision on the key rate.
Every fifth company mentioned a marginal rate of 6-10%. Another 20% of respondents are ready to take out a loan at 15-20%. Microbusiness and trade turned out to be the most sensitive to changes in the economic environment, the study says.
In addition, the investment activity of SMEs has already begun to decline — this year 51% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) stated that they do not plan to invest in their development.
Why don't small companies go public?
Now the authorities are looking for ways to motivate enterprises to invest in development. They were worried that businesses were keeping money on deposits instead of investing it in the economy. Back in February 2024, President Vladimir Putin ordered to double the capitalization of the stock market by 2030 - it should amount to 66% of GDP.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
However, small and medium-sized businesses are not in a hurry to launch an IPO yet, Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global, pointed out. Firstly, not all managers of small businesses are ready to meet the requirements for stock market participants. For example, they don't want to compile financial statements twice a year and conduct an audit — it's quite expensive.
Secondly, not all investors are ready to invest their funds in shares of small organizations with revenues of less than 1 billion rubles a year, Natalia Milchakova said. They prefer to participate in IPOs of larger companies with revenue of 10 billion and above.
In addition, many companies are afraid of entering the stock market — they need to be fully prepared for the publicity of information, for the placement of shares among an unlimited number of people, says Oleg Skapenker, associate professor of the Department of Global Financial Markets and Fintech at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
Are there any risks of bankruptcy of SME companies
A company can be classified as an SME only if its income and number of employees are below a certain level. As a rule, these are small organizations for which a loan rate of 20% or more creates a high level of financial burden, said Valeria Gerasimenko, Chairman of the Council of the Union of Arbitration Managers of the National Center for Restructuring and Bankruptcy.
At the same time, massive bankruptcy of small companies that take out expensive loans is possible if they take on an unbearable burden, Oleg Skapenker from Plekhanov Russian University of Economics is sure.
— Banks, as professional lenders, in most cases will not allow this — their risk management system is aimed at providing repayable loans. In the case of microfinance institutions, for example, loans at very high interest rates without a real analysis of creditworthiness are more common. But here the responsibility lies with business leaders — without an adequate assessment of the company's capabilities, it will still not be possible to develop it," the expert said.
According to Natalia Milchakova from Freedom Finance Global, the share of small and medium-sized businesses in Russian GDP is about 21%, so mass bankruptcies of the sector can slow down economic growth, disrupt sustainable supply chains and further increase inflation, which was already above 10% in February.
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