An accreditation of banks for participation in the city program of concessional lending to SME has started in Kazan

(KZN.RU, February 25, Ksenia Shvetsova). From March 1, the city program of concessional lending to small and medium-sized businesses starts in Kazan. This year, the terms of the program have changed. The city budget will compensate for a concessional loan of 5% per annum with the established upper threshold of the loan no more than 20%. The exemption will be valid for the first two years for priority types or three years for special priority activities for the urban economy. The changes will expand the access of entrepreneurs to lending. Ildar Shakirov, the deputy head of the Executive Committee, announced this today at the Business Monday.

Concessional lending has become one of the most effective tools to support entrepreneurs in the capital of Tatarstan, said I. Shakirov. From 2007 to 2018, 472 Kazan entrepreneurs were able to take advantage of them. In total, they received loans in the amount of 1.8 billion rubles. “We often meet with the business representatives, we receive feedback from them on the terms of the program. As a result, it undergoes serious changes from year to year. This year was not an exception either”, said the speaker. He added that annually holding a competition, the Executive Committee reduced the maximum loan rate, trying to make it affordable and profitable for entrepreneurs. But as a result, lending ceased to be profitable for the banks, and therefore they began to issue loans very rarely. “The issuance of loans for entrepreneurs became almost inaccessible. We tried to take into account the interests of all parties, radically revised the program conditions for this year”, said I. Shakirov. Decisions on program changes were made at a meeting with representatives of the banking community and entrepreneurs within the framework of the coordination council for the development of small and medium-sized businesses held at the end of last year.

Ildar Shakirov reminded that any Kazan entrepreneur working in priority and high priority sectors, receiving a loan from a bank, will be able to count on a subsidy from the Executive Committee. Earlier a single lending rate was established. Now only its upper threshold is indicated and it should not exceed 20%. The list of priority activities has not changed much. It includes the organization of private kindergartens, hostels and hotels, the production of folk arts and crafts, the collection, processing, recycling and disposal of garbage, as well as education, housing and communal services, domestic tourism, catering, and others. According to I. Shakirov, another direction of this year was the repair of the facades of the business buildings at the request of the entrepreneurs themselves.

“We expect that the decisions made will not only increase the coverage of entrepreneurs and expand their participation in the program, but first and foremost improve the quality of projects that we will fund”, said I. Shakirov.

Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, ordered to meet with entrepreneurs and representatives of the banking community in late March – early April to sum up the first results of the amended program of preferential loans implementation. “It is necessary to “measure the temperature” by the end of March so that we know for sure that the work has been settled, and the quantity and quality of the program have reached a new level”, said I. Metshin.

Applications of entrepreneurs for participation in the program will be accepted from March 1. For all questions on the accreditation of banks and the participation of entrepreneurs in the program, please contact the Committee of Economic Development by calling: (843) 299-17-73, 299-15-80.