Справка
Between
18 March and 17 April, the Government has allocated an additional 1.8 trillion
roubles to support the economy and people’s incomes during the coronavirus
epidemic. The total support within the framework of two support packages has hit
2.1 trillion roubles.
Support measures
– Tax deferment (with the exception of VAT) has been approved for small and medium-sized enterprises, plus the deferment of insurance premiums and rent payments for SMEs from the most exposed industries.
The size of insurance premiums for SMEs will be halved if the employees’ wages are higher than one subsistence wage. This will save SMEs 235 billion roubles in 2020. SMEs employ over 20 million people in Russia.
– The administrative pressure on business has been reduced dramatically. Over 50,000 inspections in various spheres (unless this can increase health and life hazards for people) have been suspended. Overall, 100,000 planned inspections at SMEs, including tax and customs probes, will be cancelled in 2020.
As many as 15 types of licences and permits, which expire in 2020, will be automatically extended.
– Loan interest payments have been cancelled for businesses. The payment of loan principal has been postponed for a period of six months during which such payments will be divided equally between banks, the state and the company in question, which can pay this part of the debt in equal parts within six months or add it to the loan principal and hence suspend payments. The total volume of deferred payments reached more than 410 billion roubles. These benefits are available to over 500,000 companies.
– To support employment, the Government has launched a programme of interest-free loans for the payment of salaries to companies in the most exposed industries. In order to encourage banks to issue such loans more readily, it was decided that VEB.RF would guarantee 75 percent of the total sum of such loans, which can reach 350 billion roubles.
– The Government will co-finance the payment of May and June salaries at SMEs from the most affected sectors the amount of one subsistence wage or 12,130 roubles per employee, provided the said companies keep at least 90 percent of their employees as of 1 April 2020.
– Unemployment benefits in April, May and June will be increased to one subsistence wage (12,130 roubles) for those who lost their jobs and registered as unemployed after 1 March. The figure can potentially reach 3.2 million people. Parents who have been registered as unemployed will be paid 3,000 roubles per child between April and June.
The Government continues working on new measures to support the economy during the coronavirus epidemic.