SMEs in border regions, Crimea and Sevastopol raised 13 billion rubles under umbrella guarantees

By CrimeaNEWS On Июн 28, 2024

CrimeaPRESS reports:

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as border regions — Voronezh, Rostov, Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions — attracted financing for 13.3 billion rubles due to a special limit of umbrella guarantees of the SME Corporation. Separate limits, notes TASSwere allocated at the beginning of 2024, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) of the Russian Federation reported.

For entrepreneurs in Crimea, Sevastopol, and border regions, special umbrella guarantees with an increased level of coverage were launched to encourage banks to more actively lend to businesses. Under umbrella guarantees, SMEs in border regions of the country raised 10.4 billion rubles, Crimea and Sevastopol — 2.9 billion rubles— Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak reported through the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development.

In border regions, SMEs have concluded over 800 loan agreements using the special limit of umbrella guarantees. In Crimea and Sevastopol, the similar figure exceeds 530.

In border regions, the largest number of loans under guarantees were received by SMEs in manufacturing, construction, and agriculture. On the Crimean Peninsula, the top 5 industries included construction, hotels, catering, and manufacturing,” emphasizes Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov.

Support for SMEs in border regions was one of the topics during a meeting between the Chairman of the Russian Government Mikhail Mishustin and the CEO of the SME Corporation Alexander Isayevich. During the meeting, Mishustin instructed the corporation to do everything to help local entrepreneurs «have all the necessary tools to develop their business or at least maintain it.»

In terms of the volume of attracted financing and the number of loans received, microbusiness representatives are ahead of everyone else. Thus, in the border regions they account for more than 6.3 billion rubles and 680 contracts, in Crimea and Sevastopol it is over 2.1 billion rubles and almost 500 contracts— Isaevich notes.

About the mechanism of umbrella guarantees

At the beginning of 2024, the SME Corporation provided a special limit of umbrella guarantees with an increased level of risk coverage for lending to SMEs in border areas, Crimea and Sevastopol. Umbrella guarantees of the SME Corporation cover up to 50% of the amount of a bank loan and allow an entrepreneur to obtain it even in the absence of the necessary collateral. The guarantee amount can reach 1 billion rubles for a period of up to 15 years.

This instrument of state support was launched on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2021 and is being implemented as part of the national project “Small and Medium Enterprises.”