About 37,000 representatives of small and medium-sized businesses are registered in the Smolensk region. On the territory of the region, five regional projects are being implemented as part of the national “Small and Medium Business and Support for Individual Entrepreneurial Initiatives”.
The regional economy has attracted 1.1 billion rubles of federal funds over two years.
An important help was the creation of the “My Business” center in Smolensk, on the site of which those who wish can receive support in the form of consultations, training, and a wide range of services from specialized organizations, including certification of goods, works, classification of hotels, and export of business. Since 2019, more than 11,000 such services have been provided to entrepreneurs.
Governor Alexei Ostrovsky is in dialogue with representatives of the region’s business communities and directed his subordinates to provide comprehensive support to SMEs. In 2020, work in connection with the covid threat was reformatted, new support measures were developed. Center “My Business” has developed services and programs for marketing promotion of business on the Internet, developed a “box” product for organizing sales through the largest marketplaces.
Also, regional SMEs were able to take advantage of free delivery of goods to the client within Smolensk.
The Regional Fund for Entrepreneurship Support provides microloans and guarantees to small and medium-sized businesses in the region. Over 2 years, 819 microloans were issued for the amount of more than 803 million rubles.
During the pandemic, on behalf of the Governor, the Fund implemented a loan product in the form of an interest-free loan to finance the priority costs of rent, utility bills, wages, and taxes.