Russian technology associations sent an appeal to the Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev, in which they requested the return of preferential rates for loans under the High Tech program (implies a rate of 3%). This is reported by the Vedomosti newspaper.
Author:
https://rb.ru/author/ntihonov/
Subscribe to RB.RU on Telegram
The letter was sent on September 20 by the Association of Computer and Information Technology Companies (APKIT), the Association of Software Product Developers (ARPP) of National Software, Russoft, the We IT Association, the Association of Developers and Russian Electronics Manufacturers, the Association of Fast-Growing Technological Companies of National Champions” and the Union of Support and Development of Technological Companies.
Previously, SME Bank sent notifications about the increase in loan interest rates from October 15. RBC wrote that rates will increase from 3 to 12% for both new and already granted loans. On September 13, the Bank of Russia raised the interest rate to 19% per year.
IT associations expressed concern about changes in loan conditions. In his opinion, this could cause significant losses and the bankruptcy of several companies. It is noted that increasing the cost of a loan by 4 times will prevent new companies from receiving financing and may cause a slowdown in innovative developments.
The “Takeoff: From Startup to IPO” program was launched in 2022 to support small and medium-sized high-tech companies and loans were provided at 3%. They were received by 286 companies in the amount of more than 48 billion rubles. The SME Bank stated that the budget funds for such subsidies have been exhausted and it is necessary to adapt the preferential ones to those of the market.
At the end of September, the Ministry of Energy and the SME Corporation agreed with the Ministry of Finance to grant a new subsidy to cover the 12% loan contracts.
Author:
Nikolai Tikhonov
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
