Mikhail Mishustin: “Let’s discuss one more thing, this time the fourth package of proposals on raising the efficiency of our economy. It contains about two dozen ideas in several areas, from support for small and medium businesses to large industrial companies.”
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Meeting of the Presidium of the Government Commission to Increase the Sustainability of the Russian Economy under the Sanctions
Good afternoon, colleagues.
We are holding a meeting of the Presidium of the Government Commission to Increase the Sustainability of the Russian Economy under the Sanctions.
Today we are conducting a regular session of the emergency response centre. Let’s discuss one more thing, this time the fourth package of proposals on raising the efficiency of our economy. It contains about two dozen proposals that embrace several areas, from support for small and medium businesses to large industrial companies.
We will also discuss the status of previously adopted decisions. The drafting of regulations is only half the job. It is important to implement these proposals quickly and effectively.
One of the key tasks today is to saturate the market with the needed products so that people can have access to the usual goods to the fullest extent possible under the current conditions. Businesses should be given the opportunity to quickly adjust their production and logistics chains. The state should help them focus on the current tasks. This primarily concerns small businesses that do not have a big margin of safety. We have made such decisions in the past.
A new Government resolution has been signed. It suspends the start of mandatory dairy product label markings by farms and agricultural cooperatives until December 1, 2023. We have readjusted the schedule because of the current situation. This will allow businesses to find replacements for the necessary equipment without rushing around.
We will simultaneously suspend, until the same date, the requirement to send information to the marking monitoring system for companies that buy dairy products and water for their own needs or production. These include restaurants and bakeries, schools, kindergartens, hospitals and the like. As for grocery stores, the deadline for compulsory submission of information on milk to the same system via cash registers will be postponed until next September. The deadline for the transfer of the same information on bottled water, except mineral water, will be suspended until March of next year.
This decision will make it possible to reduce the risk of mishaps in supplies to the domestic market in the current conditions and to alleviate businesses of excessive administrative loads in this difficult period.
Another signed document concerns the so-called parallel imports. The goal of this mechanism is to meet the demand for goods that are linked with intellectual property rights. Until now, these could not be sold on the territory of our country without a permit from the copyright holder.
The Government has recently adopted a law that gives it the right to determine a list of products that fall under the principle of the expiration of trademark rights if the owner sells them in any part of the world. This approach will make it possible to guarantee supplies of goods to our country despite the unfriendly actions of foreign politicians.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry will endorse a list of products that can be imported to Russia under this mechanism on proposals from the sectoral departments.
The Government also resolved to expand support for businesses involved in state purchases. To allow companies to receive quicker floating assets under contracts concluded this year, we increased the share of advanced payments to 50 percent of the total sum if these funds have no treasury support. If treasury support is granted, advance payments can reach from between 50 and 90 percent of the total. In this case, businesses will receive more money immediately while the state maintains control over these funds.
Mortgage programmes were one of the topics at the meeting with the President. Under his instructions, we established the highest rate on the preferential mortgage programme at 12 percent. The relevant resolution has been signed. This will allow us to support people who want to improve their housing conditions while promoting the development of the construction industry. This is developing dynamically today, and it is important to maintain this momentum.
By Government resolution, we will increase the term on loans that individuals can apply for under this programme by three months, starting on April 1 of this year. This will total 12 million roubles for the four capital regions, that is, per tradition, Moscow and the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. The total for the other regions of the Russian Federation is 6 million.
Interest will remain the same for the three current preferential mortgage programmes: 6 percent for a family mortgage, 3 percent for a rural mortgage and 2 percent for the Far Eastern programme.
We hope all adopted measures will help support demand and allow businesses to adapt quicker to the new conditions in this area.
