significant contribution
The contribution of the business sector to the economy of the Altai Territory can hardly be overestimated. It contributes half of all trade turnover, almost a third of the taxes collected by the budgets and a quarter of the investments. Of the 88 thousand business entities that operate in the region, 74.7 thousand are SMEs. And if we add more than 77 thousand self-employed workers to them, it turns out that a third of all employed workers – and this is more than 352 thousand people – are currently involved in small and medium-sized enterprises.
Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Altai Territory, Minister of Economic Development of the region Anatoly Nagornov emphasized the role of SMEs for the economy of the country and the region.
– The private initiative, small and medium-sized companies played a very important role in overcoming economic risks in the country and in our region, once again demonstrating the ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment and even in difficult conditions for guarantee growth. Therefore, the most important task of public authorities remains to support private initiatives that benefit the country and the region,-said Anatoly Nagornov in his opening speech.
– In 2019, the national project “Small and medium-sized enterprises and support for individual entrepreneurial initiatives”, initiated by the Head of State, set the region the task of bringing the number of people employed in entrepreneurship to 332,000 people by 2024. , – recalled the head of the Department of the Altai Territory for the Development of Entrepreneurship and market infrastructure, Alexander Evstigneev. – And the task was very ambitious. But already in 2022 this figure was exceeded. Despite the difficult economic situation and a whole series of limiting factors, today we are seeing positive dynamics in many indicators of business development. The turnover of small and medium-sized enterprises last year increased by ten percent compared to 2021 and reached 492 billion rubles. The volume of taxes transferred to budgets increased by almost eleven percent, and for special tax regimes, by 21 percent. This indicates the adaptation of the SME sector to modern challenges. Of course, the situation in different sectors is not uniform: someone finds opportunities for growth, someone is forced to slow down. But overall, it’s stable.
Help in word and deed
In 2022, in the Altai Territory, only within the framework of the regional program of support for SMEs, more than 970 million rubles were allocated for financial, organizational and consulting assistance for small businesses – twice as much as the previous year. And the total amount of funds allocated for the development of entrepreneurship in the region exceeded 16 billion rubles. This massive assistance package includes subsidies and grants to agricultural producers, processors and tourism entrepreneurs, as well as financial resources received by entrepreneurs through preferential loan programs and government support measures against sanctions.
– Attracting such a volume of funds was possible thanks to the integrated system of support for SMEs at each stage of their development, built in the Altai Territory under the leadership of Governor Viktor Tomenko, – emphasized Alexander Evstigneev. – For example, last year the “My Business” center provided more than 11.5 thousand services to entrepreneurs and those interested in creating their own business. And taking into account the work of the information and consultation centers in the municipalities of the region, these services were provided more than 33 thousand. The regional guarantee organization issued guarantees totaling 1 billion rubles, which allowed entrepreneurs to attract about 2.6 billion rubles of loans for the implementation of their projects. And the regional microcredit company provided more than a billion rubles in soft loans.
Almost half of the funds of the individual program for the accelerated socio-economic development of the Altai Territory, approved by order of the government of the Russian Federation (about 2.5 billion rubles), is also intended to support small and medium-sized businesses. . During the three years of its implementation, 488 entrepreneurs have already received subsidies totaling almost 660 million rubles. And the gradual additional capitalization of regional guarantee and microfinance organizations, the total capital of which today exceeds two billion rubles, makes it possible to provide entrepreneurs with credit resources that compare favorably with business loans. The main goal of the program is to improve the well-being of the inhabitants of the Altai Territory, and about two thousand jobs have been created with this program alone.
Photo: Maxim Ivankov/Tatyana Kuznetsova
The most voluminous state support under the national project was received by entrepreneurs who create infrastructure for other SMEs. With the support of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, more than 1.5 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget for the construction of three industrial technology parks in the region. Last year, the first such infrastructure facility was opened in Rubtsovsk for housing new production complexes in the field of metallurgy and metallurgy, industrial and agricultural production – the South Altai Technopark. Today, the construction of two more technology parks in Biysk and Barnaul continues.
in direct dialogue
In addition to financial support, it is very important to create favorable conditions for the development of small businesses. Therefore, in the Altai Territory, they are actively improving the legislation. Regional authorities, together with the business community, find balanced solutions that meet the needs of business and the government’s tasks in meeting budgets.
– We have improved the regional patent taxation system, which was chosen last year by 17.9 thousand businessmen, having acquired 28.1 thousand patents, – emphasized Alexander Evstigneev. – In addition, on behalf of Governor Viktor Tomenko, a new property tax exemption has been introduced in the region this year, according to which certain categories of SMEs can reduce the taxable area of commercial and office premises by three hundred square meters . There are many other tax incentives in the region: vacations for small start-ups, rates for a simplified tax system for certain types of activities that have been cut in half.
According to Andrey Osipov, Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in the Altai Territory, the government of the Altai Territory has built effective interaction with the business community, direct and honest dialogue. All decisions made in the region regarding the development of small and medium-sized enterprises are formed taking into account the opinion of the business community.
A striking example of this direct dialogue is the annual Congress of business associations, in which the governor of the region actively participates. This year the congress will be held for the ninth time.
– We are participating in the improvement of the legislative framework and now we are working to finalize the law on property tax deductions, – said Andrey Osipov. – Together with the profile department, deputies and business associations, we will study the practice of its application and refine it so that this benefit can be used not only by legal entities, but also by individual entrepreneurs. We are also discussing the introduction of a property tax exemption for SMEs restoring cultural heritage sites and the expansion of state support for rural business development.
Boris Chesnokov, Chairman of the Altai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, noted that constructive work has been built in the region with all relevant state and public organizations. “During the last five years, the region’s government has managed to significantly improve and systematize the approaches for the development of the SME sector in the region, which makes it possible to ensure the stability of the growth of key indicators,” he highlighted.
Direct speech
Viktor Tomenko, Governor of the Altai Territory:
– Small and medium-sized enterprises in different regions of the country occupy a different market share, but for the Altai Territory this area is especially important. This is one of the bases of the current structure of our economic system. For this reason, the regional government is carrying out comprehensive work to support entrepreneurship to obtain the maximum economic and social effects. And we are already seeing some results. If at the beginning of 2019 more than 270 thousand inhabitants of the region worked in small and medium-sized companies, today we already have more than 350 thousand people employed in this sector of the economy.
