I.Metshin: “Business is gradually reviving, but the process will take time”

The coronavirus pandemic significantly affected the results of social and economic development of Kazan in the first half of 2020. In the current conditions, support of the small and medium-sized businesses remains one of the crucial areas of work, Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin said today at Business Monday.

The coronavirus pandemic affected almost all sectors of the municipal economy. Large systemically important businesses suffered slightly from the restrictions, but representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) suffered significantly, said Ildar Shakirov, deputy head of the Executive Committee.

In the first quarter, before the restrictions, small businesses, according to I.Shakirov, showed positive momentum in all economic indicators.

“After the imposition of restrictions, all this growth, unfortunately, was leveled, and in some industries showed negative momentum, – said I.Shakirov. – Even now we understand that the fall is serious and is expected at the level of 20-30%”.

One third of our municipal economy is small and medium – sized businesses. It is not a coincidence that our first support measures were directed to this segment,”- the Mayor of Kazan said.

The pandemic has changed the work of the city economy, but today the situation is beginning to improve, the head of the city believes. “Business is gradually reviving, enterprises and shopping malls are opening, but it will take time, - the Mayor noted. - For example, since the beginning of spring, tourism has completely stopped, and today we see a large number of Russian tourists. We are happy to meet them and hope that this industry, like the others, will recover”.