The reduction in the entrepreneurs’ confidence and activity index in Kazan is less than the total republican indicators

(KZN.RU, August 15). The ninth extended meeting of the Council on Entrepreneurship under the President of the RT was held today in Kazan in the KRK “Pyramida”. The event was traditionally broadcast online on the Internet.

Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of the RT, chaired the meeting. The guest of today's event was Savva Shipov, the deputy minister of Economic Development of Russia. Asgat Safarov, the head of the Presidential Administration of the RT, Rustam Nigmatullin, the first deputy prime minister of the RT, Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, Irek Faizullin, the Minister of Construction, Architecture and Housing of the RT, Ildus Nafikov, the prosecutor of the RT, and others took part in the event.

In total, about 250 businessmen were invited to communicate with the President of the RT and regional officials.

Opening the meeting, Rustam Minnikhanov noted that officials meet for the third consecutive year for such open communication with representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. Today's meeting was already the ninth.

Issues that arise today among business representatives should be resolved jointly, said Rustam Minnikhanov. He thanked Savva Shipov, the deputy minister of Economic Development of Russia, for being here and taking part in the discussion of the stated topics.

According to Rustam Minnikhanov, this form of communication with entrepreneurs can be broadcast to the federal level, as these issues and problems are relevant for the whole country and all regions.

Savva Shipov also positively assessed the format of communication with representatives of small and medium-sized business in Tatarstan. There are questions raised that important for all entrepreneurs not just in Tatarstan.

“Tatarstan today is the leading region in the investment climate, in terms of the number of representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, in activities related to the assessment”, he said. “We see these positive dynamics. We support this work and are ready to help at the federal level to resolve the problems identified by the Council on Entrepreneurship”.

Savva Shipov briefly described the main tasks, outlined the agenda at the federal level to improve the business climate. According to him, this is primarily the entering the market.

“A draft law on licensing activities has been prepared. It involves an inventory of all forms of permits in the country, as well as the establishment of unified rules”, said Savva Shipov said. “In addition, a draft law on control and supervision activities has been prepared to make intelligence control, introduce risk assessment tools, and evaluate effectiveness. The main thing is the number of mandatory requirements. We propose to amend the legislation, which assumes that within 3 years all federal requirements will have to undergo an assessment of the regulatory impact and confirm justified”.

During the meeting, Rustam Minnikhanov said that the authority of Timur Nagumanov, the Representative under the President of the RT for the protection of entrepreneurs' rights, was confirmed for another 5 years.

Today, the rating of the municipal regions of the republic will be presented on researching the business climate. “I ask you to take the situation as it is, no string”, said Rustam Minnikhanov. “Such work on studying the business climate will be conducted. We must pay attention to all the problems”.

Timur Nagumanov, the Representative under the President of the RT for the Protection of the Entrepreneurs’ Rights, gave the main report. In particular, he informed that the Council for Entrepreneurship was actively working on two dozen topics in the past three months. You can find all project groups on the project portal sovet.tatarstan.ru.

Four groups have been discussed today. One theme is the development of industrial parks. The second is the establishment of sanitary areas. This issue concerns all entrepreneurs of the republic. The third group worked on the topic of the requirements of the Ministry of Construction, Architecture and Housing of the RT for qualification of ecologists. The last group is devoted to the topic of transport security and transport equipment by the systems “GLONASS”.

Timur Nagumanov presented the results of the rating of the business climate in the RT. He recalled that last April it was decided to conduct research on the business climate in the regions of the republic at a meeting of the Council. In October, the results of the first study of the business climate in terms of districts were announced. The methodology of the study was made by the international research company “Magram Research”.

Thus, representative polls were conducted in each municipality. A sample was taken for analysis: 100 entrepreneurs in each district, 1200 entrepreneurs in Naberezhnye Chelny, and 2600 entrepreneurs in Kazan. 69% of them refer to a micro-business with a turnover of up to 60 million rubles a year. At the same time, 11% is a large business, 22% have more than 100 employees, 25% – 16 to 100 employees, 53% – companies with a small staff.

According to the business profile, 40% is the services sector, 26% and 34% respectively are production and trade.

As a result of the study, two indexes were obtained: the index of business activity and the index of confidence.

The activity index assesses the current state of business in the district: what happens to the incomes of entrepreneurs, whether they invest in their own business, expand the staff, or attract external financing.

The index of confidence assesses the working conditions of the entrepreneur and his expectations. Lack of confidence will have a negative impact on business activity and economic results in the future.

The index is a calculated indicator that shows the balance between positive and negative estimates.

Thus, 52% of the interviewed entrepreneurs said that the conditions of doing business in the current half-year have worsened. This is more than half of all respondents. In 2017, this figure was better by 10%.

In addition, another 33% of entrepreneurs today expect deterioration of conditions in the next six months.

The index of business confidence as a whole across the republic fell immediately from 43 to 37 points in 201 8. The leader of the fall was Aznakaevsky district the mood of the business collapsed at once by 22 points there.

As for the positive results, most of the business activity for the year grew in Nizhnekamsk, Kamskoe Ustye, and Muslyumovo.

The lowest activity of the business is in Apastovsky, Aznakaevsky, and Sarmanovsky districts.

Timur Nagumanov separately presented the situation in Kazan. The amount of Kazan is more than 40% in the general republican index. This corresponds to the distribution of the share of business in the whole country.

Kazan has an especially intense competition. Entrepreneurs are less dependent on the actions of the authorities, but are subject to general market conditions.

In Kazan, according to the results of this year, too, there is a decrease in both the confidence and activity index. However, this decrease is less than in the whole country. Kazan entrepreneurs more often than the national average report an increase in revenue in the current half-year and more often forecast revenue growth in the second half of 2018.

The entrepreneurs explain the decline in business activity in Kazan due to the low availability of finance. 58% of entrepreneurs applying for loans say it is difficult or impossible to get them.

Timur Nagumanov cited data that entrepreneurs noted throughout the republic.

He also noted that business complaints on administrative barriers and imperfection of legislation have significantly decreased. The problems with obtaining financing have also decreased. However, this is due to the fact that the request for financing and development significantly decreases in general.

Read more about the results of the rating of the business climate in the RT on the website of the Representative under the President of the RT for the protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights, reports the press service of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.