"We have never allocated such funds": Mishustin's speech in the State Duma

photo: Duma website

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin delivered his annual report to the Russian State Duma today. The editorial staff of Made in Russia collected significant statements of the head of the Cabinet about the situation in the economy and plans to stabilize business.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT

According to Mishustin, today the authorities are taking unprecedented measures to support the industry. He reminded that 30 billion rubles were allocated for subsidized crediting of AIC for the sowing campaign, 26 billion rubles for support of subsidized crediting of strategic AIC organizations, 12 billion rubles for additional capitalization of "Rosagroleasing" for equipment acquisition, required for the agrarians.

Apart from that 2.5 billion rubles was allocated to subsidize bakeries, 2 billion rubles - for transport logistics, 5 billion rubles - to support the creation of breeding centers.

"We have never allocated such funds. The result is excellent. The funds that are planned are sufficient to keep moving forward," he said.

To stimulate the launch of its own production of components for key industries, a program of special grants has been introduced, Mishustin noted. "With their help, we will stimulate the development of design documentation. We have fine-tuned this mechanism, increased the amount of compensation this year from 80 to 100% of the costs. Within three years we plan to spend at least 3.6 billion rubles for these purposes," he noted.

The Cabinet will also continue to increase funding for the support of backbone enterprises and will allocate about 51 billion rubles to support employment, he added.

"We support youth entrepreneurship in every way possible. There is a very important program, which is called "Long-term program to promote youth employment until 2030. There are 10 billion rubles allocated to it for 2022 with the involvement of 260 thousand people. Then there is a whole range of measures for training, acceleration of projects, mentoring, activities of the club of young entrepreneurs", - continued the Prime Minister.

Also, the government has decided to extend the tourist cashback program until April 15. "So at least 1.5 million more of our tourists will be able to buy a trip and relax anywhere in Russia. It will not be necessary to pay VAT and owners of existing hotels. I believe that this will be a very good incentive for business and will be a tangible support for hotels", - said Mishustin.

DEBUREAUCRATIZATION

The head of the government drew attention to the fact that now it is extremely important to provide access to cheap loans to replenish working capital, even for small businesses. "They will be able to receive grants to compensate up to 90% of the rate on such loans. This will give innovative companies an opportunity to keep their employees and not to reduce production volumes," - Prime Minister believes.

"Now about the concessional lending program. There are four programs with a credit portfolio of about 1 trillion rubles for "turnover" and investments. As of today, about 54.5 billion rubles of new loans for 3 thousand borrowers have been granted within these programs. We want the banks to do it faster, the funds are now provided", - he added.

Another important line is debureaucratization and reduction of administrative pressure, Mishustin stressed.

"This is not a temporary measure, but a consistent position of the government. A moratorium on all inspections was introduced in agreement with the president. Of course, if we are not talking about the safety and health of our citizens. Business associations have always supported this position. And we understand that this kind of control was a very sensitive topic for businessmen," explained the head of the government.

However, he noted that the development of the labeling system in the country will continue. "I will tell you right away about the labeling. With such a decrease in regulation in the country, it is the only thing that remains to ensure that we do not destroy the accounting system. We won't move away from labeling. But we will make easing," Mishustin said.

According to the prime minister, the current state policy is already yielding results. "The first package of benefits that we adopted brought 42 billion rubles to our country - by expanding the number of IT companies, by creating new startups, by their contribution to the economy, including by increasing exports of these services," he said.

Commenting on the current situation, Mishustin also stressed that the shortage of goods that Russians faced was artificial.

"At the beginning of March, the whole retail sector, from producer to retailer, faced a rush demand for a whole range of basic necessities. People feared empty shelves and rising prices. And immediately there were those who decided to capitalize on this situation - on people's fears. Crooks - we should call so directly those who tried to cash in on panic moods. And they created an artificial shortage by keeping products in stock and selling them at a completely different price and through different channels," he stressed.

"Now the economy is in the process of adapting to the changes.It takes time to readjust. It is impossible not to have at least half a year to readjust with such a blow," Mishustin concluded.

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