UrBC, Moscow, April 2, 2020. Russia’s State Duma adopted a draft bill on introducing ‘a loan repayment holiday’ for sole traders and small and medium enterprises in the third and final reading this week.

This means borrowers can take a break from repaying the principal debt and the interest for a few months, Prime reports.

Under the terms of the bill, businesspeople can apply for a loan repayment break with their bank through September 30, 2020. The ‘repayment holiday’ could last up to six months. Private individuals are eligible to apply for the six-month ‘repayment holiday’ as well.

In order to be given the break, however, the applicant must prove that their income went down by at least 30% compared with the previous accounting month.

Now the proposal to introduce a loan repayment break option was put forth by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his televised address last week.