Izvestia: “A big gift for the “little guys””
Representatives of small and medium-sized Russian businesses held an innovation forum yesterday. They discussed how business could become the driver of growth by adopting high technology. However, it was left to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.
This country has 17,000 medium-sized and 228,000 small companies, more than a million micro-enterprises and 4 million individual entrepreneurs and farmers. They all face the same problems: crippling taxes and endless inspections which often leave them no time to attend to their business.
"The most important thing today is for the civil servants at all levels to understand that the ban on unreasonable interference in entrepreneurial activities is not a short-lived ‘campaign,' not a temporary easing of the reins for business, but the core of the government policy intended for the long term, forever," Putin said. "What I am going to tell you is the consolidated position of the government."
It was indeed a programmatic speech. For starters, the prime minister promised to compensate hi-tech enterprises for rising taxes by keeping the rate of the insurance contribution at 14%. A draft law to the effect will be submitted to the State Duma within months.
Enterprises which introduce energy saving equipment will be exempt from property tax for three years. To enable small innovative companies to attract long-term investment, the tax on profits from the sale of securities will be axed, albeit on condition that the enterprise has owned them for more than five years and they are not traded on the stock exchange. Businesses operating in the healthcare and education segments have also received a gift from the prime minister in the form of a nine-year tax holiday (until 2020.)
Also, the easy-term procedure of real estate privatisation has been extended by three years, with such deals to be exempt from VAT. Putin's announcement drew a storm of applause from the audience. But the best news was still to come. The prime minister said he was in favour of indefinite licences and of cutting the list of goods subject to certification.
"The federal budget for 2010 has already allocated 10 billion roubles for the development of small and medium enterprises," he added. "We will put together a further 13 billion rouble package in aid of small and medium enterprises."
Three billion roubles out of that sum will be used to support small and medium-sized innovative companies, according to the prime minister. Two billion will be spent to support small business in mono-cities. One billion will pay for the development of entrepreneurship in the North Caucasus. The Housing and Utilities Reform Fund will ensure that small enterprises take part in the programmes aimed at refurbishing apartment blocks and relocating people from derelict housing. Another two billion roubles will go to businesses which export hi-tech products.
Anastasia Savinykh
