Ilsur Metshin voided a charge at municipal parking on Saturdays and on weekdays after 6 pm

Today, Ilsur Metshin met with representatives of the tourism industry, major malls and entertainment centers, catering and outdoor advertising at the Saidash community center. At the meeting, he approved decisions aimed at supporting business.

At the meeting, the Mayor noted that these industries were the first to suffer challenges caused by coronavirus.

I.Metshin noted the importance of measures to support business, which were undertaken by President Vladimir Putin. “Russian President announced the first steps that will be taken by the government to supporting the economy and business", - the Mayor said.

“Many small and medium-sized companies do not have reserves”

Entrepreneurs shared their vision of the situation. Zufar Gayazov, head of the Association of restaurateurs and hoteliers of Kazan and Tatarstan, Director General of Tatinter-restaurants LLC, told about the problems at a number of enterprises.

On behalf of all restaurateurs and hoteliers of the city, Z.Gayazov made a proposal to cancel the charge for municipal parking on Saturdays, for renting municipal parking lots for cafes and restaurants, for summer cafes, and to help with the establishment of a consolidated city online service for food delivery.

Ilsur Metshin said that the request for summer cafes will be supported. “This season, we will not charge the owners of summer cafes for municipal plots, but all designs need to be agreed with the Department of architecture and urban development”, - he said.

Additionally, the Mayor of Kazan decided to make municipal parking free on Saturdays for the period of six months, and on weekdays, the fee will be charged only until 18.00.

“If violations do not pose a threat to citizens, a moratorium on fines will be imposed”

Liana Sirazetdinova, Mega-Kazan Mall manager, noted that the customers flow to the shopping center began to reduce 2 weeks ago, the slump is 34%.

According to the Mega-Kazan Mall manager, a letter was addressed to the President of the country with a request to take measures to support business.

Gulnara Safina, president of the Hotels Association of Kazan and Tatarstan, manager of Relita-Kazan hotel, told about the situation in the hotel industry. According to her, March-June is traditionally a high season, but this year the situation is exactly the opposite. “We are not asking for postponements, but for tax holidays. Our main task is to keep qualified employees, but it is hard to do now”, - she said.

Gulnara Safina asked the Mayor to limit the inspections carried out by the Department of administrative and technical control. I.Metshin replied that the decision will follow. “If violations do not pose a threat to citizens, a moratorium on fines will be imposed. Only warnings”, - he said.

“Empty billboards provide a depressing mood”

Ilya Fomin, the owner of the ITL GROUP advertising group, asked for the possibility to defer payment under lease agreements, apply a reduction coefficient, maintain the possibility of installing advertising frames on the weekend, and also put forward an initiative to use empty billboards for social advertising.

Ilsur Metshin assured that the city will accommodate the request. “We will make a decision quickly and allow to defer payments under contracts, this is almost 80 million for the city budget. In the meantime, we will decide to postpone these payments to the first quarter of 2021. We will continue to look at the situation”, - he said.

Kazan Mayor supported the idea of developing social advertising and suggested using coronavirus prevention issue, in particular among the elderly. “Empty billboards provide a depressing mood. It is possible to launch a PR campaign aimed at protecting our older generation", - the Mayor said.

In conclusion, I.Metshin announced that such meetings will continue on a regular basis. “This is such a long-playing issue. We'll get through this anyway. We all have enough experience. Based on the results of this meeting, we will decide on specific solutions within a couple of days. I hope that tangible measures will be taken for business community”, - the Mayor concluded.