THREE MILLION OF RUSSIAN ENTREPRENEURS MAY FACE THE RISK OF BANKRUPTCY

The longer a pandemic drags on, the higher is the risk of such a scenario. The deplorable result, according to the forecast, can also be expected in the labor market, which will get 8.6 million applicants, who have lost their jobs.

A CCI survey of small business representatives showed that a third of the entrepreneurs see no chance of holding out for more than three months in case the crisis drags on.

According to Elena Dybova, vice president of the CCI, many entrepreneurs may go bankrupt for formal reasons. What is more, according to the law, they will not be able to start doing business again until the expiration of a three-year period.

Will the Russian government be able to maintain the bulk of human capital, working in the field of small and medium-sized businesses in such conditions? The representatives of this sector of economy are in the most vulnerable condition because of the pandemic. Experts believe that the lack of demand for goods, closed borders and the volatility of the foreign exchange market are the main factors that can cause a mortal blow to business.

The possibility of blocking of the activities for a number of companies as well as the threat of significant losses, are the main factors of concern to the regional chambers of commerce, especially the appeals, received from individual representatives of the regional business structures, noted Elena Dybova.

A similar concern was expressed last week by the Central Bank, which published its list of measures taken to support the financial sector of the economy, business and ordinary citizens. The Bank of Russia made recommendations for commercial banks, encouraging them to make separate concessions in case of requests from small and medium-sized enterprises.

It is planned that from the beginning of April this year, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will allocate about 500 billion rubles for lending to the banks, so that they could provide loans for business freely.

According to the CCI, appropriate government intervention measures can mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic for the domestic economy. In particular, we are talking about tax holidays, moratorium on blocking the accounts and sudden on-site inspections. In fact, the words of the vice president of the CCI, published on the website, contain all those unpopular measures, the introduction of which was initiated last year, when no one thought about the crisis.