The city will continue to provide support for the capital's entrepreneurs. In this article, the topic of subsidies will be discussed.
The resolution, adopted at the meeting of the Presidium of the Moscow City Government, will increase the access of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to loans and subsidies. This will allow enterprises to reduce the risks of bankruptcy and continue their economic activity in the time of crisis, caused by the coronavirus quarantine.
Moscow’s Mayor, Mr. Sergey Sobyanin, approved several major changes:
1. The subjects of SMEs - hotels and residents of the Moscow Innovation Cluster will have access to subsidies for reimbursement of parts of their expenses when purchasing new equipment.
Participants of the Moscow Innovation Cluster, who work in the fields of industry, science and IT, as well as hotel business, may be reimbursed up to 25% of their costs, when purchasing imported equipment at their own expense. For the Russian-made equipment, the compensation rate has been increased to 35%.
In cases of a loan, companies may be reimbursed the interest rate (within the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation). When working with leasing, entrepreneurs may be reimbursed to up to 25 percent of the leasing payments when purchasing imported equipment and up to 35 percent when purchasing domestic equipment. A company may use one subsidy or a combination of several types of subsidies, but the amount of reimbursement will not exceed 10 million rubles per year.
This measure is retrospective in nature: equipment purchased up to 12 months before the selection date can be claimed for compensation.
1. Thus, the subjects of SMEs - hotels and residents of the Moscow Innovation Cluster will have access to subsidies for reimbursement of parts of their costs when purchasing new equipment.
Previously, only SMEs - the residents of technology parks had access to these support measures. The participants of the Moscow Innovation Cluster have now 924 companies as members. In order to become a participant, one needs to register on its IT platform - i.moscow.
2. Franchise support will be broadened to include entrepreneurs, who operate under trilateral agreements (subconsessions).
Besides, the list of the subsidised costs also pertains to the acquisition of equipment, which includes covering the incurred expenses of utility payments and remuneration for the rights’ holder in the form of fixed, one-time payments (lump sum payments) and periodic payments (royalties).
3. For the first time, subsidisation of up to 50 percent of the expenses (no more than 700 thousand rubles by the end of the year) of SMEs for the promotion of goods and services on the Internet trading platforms and payments for online services for food delivery is introduced.
Payments of compensation will be possible, provided that the remuneration does not exceed 20 percent of the value of the provided goods or services.
4. Subsidies are made available for credit institutions providing “soft” loans to new SMEs (not older than three years).
Loans for working capital replenishment or investment purposes should be provided to entrepreneurs at a rate of no more than eight per cent per annum (approximately twice as much as the current market rate) in the amounts from 500 thousand to 15 million rubles.
The amount of a subsidy to a credit institution is equal to the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
5. The list of financial support measures for capital exporters has been significantly expanded.
Now they can reimburse the costs of exporting not only goods, but also services and the results of intellectual capital.
Also, included in new subsidies are the costs of exporting products for the international markets. Such costs may include the development of design and introduction of products in the field of IT technologies, preparation of technical, business offers, tender documentation, licensing agreements, duplication of audiovisual products and other operations prior to the introduction of products to international markets.
In addition, a new support mechanism is being introduced - a grant of 10 percent of a completed export contract, but no more than 10 million rubles or 50 percent of the amount of taxes paid to the city’s budget. In fact, it is an export cashback, the amount of which will depend on the revenue, received by the company through the export of its goods or services.
As before, Moscow’s exporting companies will be able to compensate the costs of transporting their products abroad, obtaining security documents, certification of quality, management systems and confirmation of compliance of goods regarding foreign requirements.
Export subsidy is designed for enterprises registered in the capital at least six months prior to requisite application.
Among the most popular goods, designated for export, produced in Moscow, are machinery and equipment, electronics, as well as consumer goods and food products. The volume of non-resource exports in 2019 has increased by 23.2 per cent, compared to 2018, reaching 30.2 billion dollars US.
6. The list of subsidies for engineering has been expanded. Participants of the Moscow Innovation Cluster, registered as legal entities or individual entrepreneurs for at least one year prior to filing an application, can now apply for it. Previously, the minimum term was three years.
The subsidy reimburses for up to 50 percent of expenses incurred (but not more than 50 million rubles) for the production of documentation design and prototypes, as well as for the purchase of equipment. The equipment ought be installed and operated in Moscow.
In addition, changes have been made for the criteria of evaluating applications: small and medium-sized businesses will be given preference in their evaluation.
When developing the package of anti-crisis measures, the authorities took into account the proposals of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The collection of entrepreneurs' proposals on the "MCCI hot line" continues.