‘The small businesses have been faced with the banks’ less friendlier lending policies, greater interest rates, lack of floating assets, dropping demand, and higher rent,’ Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin declared during his annual address to the Legislative Assembly and the region’s dwellers

According to the Governor, the region’s small business will be aided in several ways: less red tape, tax relief, financial aid, and cheaper connection to the technological infrastructures (the hookup price is expected to drop by five to seven times).

‘The regional government has already helped about a hundred SMEs. A special guaranty fund for loans has been set up. Then, we’ve passed a new bill allowing companies to buy out the property they rent over the period of five years. This means, incidentally, that the heads of our municipalities have to be made personally responsible for completing the President’s task: making a list of municipal property that is to be rented by small businesses. Then, our land-use planning schemes have to provide for some land allotments where the SMEs could put up some realty,’ the Governor noted.

Petr Sumin asked the deputies to draw up a list of additional measures supporting the region’s most important SMEs, including a lower tax rate (10% rather than the current 15%). What is more, the Governor agreed with the region’s public prosecutor Alexander Voitovitch that these enterprises will not undergo any scheduled inspections by either municipal, regional, or federal authorities for the time being.