Credit of no confidence

The city authorities will not soften the conditions for subsidizing start-up entrepreneurs

Muscovites who find themselves without a permanent job are in no hurry to retrain as entrepreneurs. At least, as Mikhail Vyshegorodtsev, head of the capital’s department for support and development of small businesses, told reporters yesterday, newly minted representatives of small and medium-sized businesses are not lining up for city start-up subsidies. We are talking, in particular, about a subsidy in the amount of 350 thousand rubles, which the capital authorities are ready to allocate to beginning entrepreneurs. “This money will be enough to rent premises and buy furniture,” Mr. Vyshegorodtsev complained about the short-sightedness of the townspeople.

In order to popularize this anti-crisis measure, the Department for Support and Development of Small Business even intends to conduct another advertising campaign. However, apparently, even the officials themselves have a hard time believing in its effectiveness. According to Mr. Vyshegorodtsev, the conditions for providing the subsidy are quite strict. For example, to receive urban financial support as an alternative to bank loans, you need not only a competent, from the point of view of officials, business plan, but also additional start-up capital in the same amount as the subsidy. At the same time, free and irrevocable city financial support in the amount of 2.5-5 million rubles. for entrepreneurs who have already made a name for themselves in the city’s priority industries, according to Mr. Vyshegorodtsev, it is in quite active demand. To date, 80% of the city subsidy fund has already been spent.

In particular, according to the city department for support and development of small businesses, small enterprises engaged in the field of housing and communal services and major repairs actively use subsidies. Representatives of the department previously stated that about 800 million rubles were allocated to subsidize small enterprises this year. However, as officials assure, “the money to support start-up businesses has not run out” and they are waiting for the population’s interest in “self-employment” by creating new small enterprises. In the next three years, officials hope to use subsidies to create more than 3.5 thousand new jobs.

According to the program for the development and support of small and medium-sized businesses for 2010-2012, approved yesterday at a regular meeting of the capital's government, the total amount of funds for gratuitous and non-repayable financial assistance in the next three years will amount to more than 1.15 billion rubles. for almost 2 thousand small and medium-sized businesses. Now there are more than 360 thousand small enterprises registered in the city. True, officials are not going to soften the requirements for newcomers, citing the fact that the money will be spent for its intended purpose only if the businessman invests his funds and “the deal will be hard-earned.” “We must adhere to targeted spending of budget funds,” said Mr. Vyshegorodtsev.

Yulia KHOMCHENKO