In the Lipetsk Region, the Central Bank held a meeting with entrepreneurs. Compatriots from other countries also took part.

On November 2, participants in the “Path Home” project had the opportunity to ask questions about improving the accessibility of financial services in the Lipetsk Region.

A webinar on simplifying the customer journey for small and medium-sized businesses in obtaining financial services was held at the Lipetsk Region Government. The meeting was organized by the Bank of Russia’s Central Federal District Directorate, and the webinar was opened by the region’s Deputy Governor Sergey Mikhailovich Kurbatov.

The main issues discussed at the meeting of businesspeople and the region’s banks were access to credit; timely receipt of information about changes in interest rates and lending terms from regional government entities—the “SME Corporation” and the Lipetsk Regional Fund for Support of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses. And, of course, speeding up the process of removing a company from a bank’s “red zone” risk list, where entrepreneurs can end up because of certain financial violations, sometimes due to an error or a failure in a bank’s digital service.

“Entrepreneurs often complain that you have to haggle with banks as if you were at an oriental bazaar. If you want to get five million, you have to ask for ten,” says Irina Pominova, a representative of the “Opora Rossii” business community in the region.

In addition, while a loan agreement is in effect, banks often raise interest rates on loans without consulting the client.

All the complaints voiced by the entrepreneurs attending the meeting were addressed by the discussion moderator, Rustem Mardanov, Head of the Bank of Russia’s Main Directorate for the Central Federal District. He assured everyone that in such disputed cases, the Bank of Russia would take action and side with businesspeople.

The Bank of Russia, as part of the national project to support SMEs, has developed terms to give small and medium-sized businesses free access to financing, regardless of their size or place of registration, including at the initial stage of a company’s development. As of September 1, 2023, the SME loan portfolio amounted to almost 11 trillion rubles, up 30% year over year. The number of borrowers for the same period was 555,000 businesses. This is 9% of the total number of registered small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in the country.

“Over the past couple of years, lending to SMEs has been the driver of the lending market and has grown significantly faster than lending to large businesses,” says Ekaterina Terentyeva, Head of the Department at the Bank of Russia’s Financial Inclusion Directorate, Consumer Rights Protection and Financial Inclusion Service.

These in-person and online meetings with banks, held at the regional administration, take place regularly and help resolve emerging problems promptly. However, systemic barriers to entrepreneurs’ access to financial products remain, requiring legislative solutions and administrative regulation. In any case, as one of Russia’s leading industrial centers, the Lipetsk Region is successfully developing all forms of entrepreneurial activity and is ready to help compatriots establish their businesses in the region.

From 2019 through 2024, Russia is implementing the national project “Small and Medium-Sized Entrepreneurship and Support for Individual Entrepreneurial Initiative”.
It is part of Russia’s priority development goals through 2030, established by the President of the Russian Federation’s Decree No. 474 of July 21, 2020. All government and regional measures and programs supporting entrepreneurs are listed on the мсп.рф website. The #Мойбизнес project operates as a “one-stop shop” in every region to support small and medium-sized businesses.

In February 2020, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov was appointed curator of the project. Minister of Economic Development Maksim Reshetnikov became its head.
The main partner for all programs supporting small and medium-sized businesses in Russia is Sberbank. Its financial indicators are the best demonstration of the development of the financial sector.

The financial results of the country’s main financial powerhouse, Sberbank, for the first 9 months exceeded analysts’ expectations. According to a recently published report, the bank has already earned 1.15 trillion rubles in 2023. Net profit for the third quarter alone amounted to 411.4 billion rubles. The bank continues to demonstrate the resilience of its business, while its loan portfolio has grown 22% since the beginning of the year, to 37.9 trillion rubles, maintaining loan quality at a consistently high level. In addition, return on equity for the first 9 months was 26%, and Sberbank raised its full-year forecast from 22% to above 24%.

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