Rustam Minnikhanov takes part in a meeting of the Council under the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to Volga Federal District on issues of entrepreneurship support

On June 17, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov took part in a videoconference of the Council under the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to Volga Federal District, where the meeting participants discussed measures aimed at the recovery and development of small and medium-sized enterprises and ensuring the balanced budgets of the regions of the Volga Federal District in the spread of new coronavirus infection.

Opening the meeting, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to Volga Federal District Igor Komarov emphasized that restrictions on the Covid-19 epidemic had a significant impact on the economy and social sphere.

Small and medium-sized businesses, which employ over 3.5 million people or 12 per cent of the population in the District’s regions, have been especially hit hard.

According to Komarov, as many as 1.5 million people in the small and medium-sized businesses sector in the regions of the District, or 43 per cent of the total number of people employed in this sector of the economy, faced a change in the employment regime and dismissal.

The regions of the District have made considerable efforts to develop and implement measures aimed at the recovery and development of small and medium-sized enterprises in a short period of time.

This mainly concerns companies operating in the most affected areas. In many regions, incentive and restoration measures for this sector have been developed and are being independently implemented, which, according to the analysis of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, are characterized as positive and unique. But there are a number of unsolved problems that need to be addressed,” Komarov said.

Regarding the ensuring of the budget balance, Komarov noted that according to the data of Russian Ministry of Finance, because of the pandemic own revenues from the consolidated budgets decreased by 16 per cent or almost by 100 billion roubles compared to the same period last year.

“The federal centre has taken significant measures to provide financial assistance to the budgets of the Russian regions. The amount of the assistance to the regions of the district amounted to about 80 billion roubles,” Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to Volga Federal District added.