Free niche: why it is necessary to stimulate the development of SMEs in single-industry towns

The government is allocating 3.5 billion rubles for preferential financing of SMEs in single-industry towns and special economic zones, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during a meeting with his deputies. With the help of targeted support, it is planned to reduce the dependence of local economies on city-forming enterprises. The main potential of the program lies in the development of manufacturing and technology companies capable of forming new supply chains and diversifying the economy of single-industry towns, while trade and services remain vulnerable to the incomes of employees of large enterprises. What else is needed for a sustainable restructuring of the economy of the territories — in the material of Izvestia.

Business Card

In March 2026, the government updated the official list of single-industry municipalities: previously, 321 cities were listed on it, but after changes in the economy and municipal structure, some of the territories no longer met the criteria of a single-industry city. Now there are 264 of them left.

There are also 62 special economic zones (SEZs) operating in the country. Among them, 40 are industrial, 7 are technical and innovative, 13 are tourist and recreational, and 2 are port facilities.

Small and medium-sized businesses remain one of the main factors of the economic development of single-industry towns: entrepreneurs provide employment, support enterprises and launch new projects. Under the joint program of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the SME Corporation, preferential financing is available in 24 single-industry towns and 33 special economic zones. Currently, 24.9 thousand people work there. SMEs and 941 SEZ residents.

The distribution by territory varies greatly: thousands of small companies operate in Tolyatti and Cherepovets, while in small mining settlements there may be only hundreds of them. The development of such a business is of critical importance for social stability, since if a city-forming enterprise has problems, it is the SME that can accept the released workers and reduce the risk of mass unemployment.

In single-industry towns, there is usually a high dependence of trade and services on household income: street retail and consumer services account for about 40% of SMEs compared to about 20% in megacities. Therefore, a reduction in salaries at a large enterprise quickly affects shops, cafes, pharmacies and other small companies.

At the same time, SMEs are helping to diversify the economy: in 2026, more than 50% of recipients of preferential loans were manufacturing enterprises that create new supply chains and jobs outside the urban business.

It is difficult to develop entrepreneurship in such cities on their own: banks rate risks highly and offer expensive loans, so subsidies, government guarantees and programs with a rate of 6% are important. At the same time, problems remain with industrial sites, logistics, and personnel: the development of new areas, including tourism, may increase competition for qualified employees of city-forming enterprises.

Enterprise support

The government will allocate 3.5 billion rubles for preferential loans and bank guarantees for small and medium-sized businesses in single-industry towns and special economic zones. This is a relatively small amount for the country's economy: it can be compared approximately with the cost of building 1-2 medium–sized industrial facilities, since one such project today can cost 1.5-3 billion rubles. With an average concessional loan of 50-100 million rubles, the program will potentially cover about 150-300 companies. If the funds are distributed among 24 problematic single-industry towns and 33 priority SEZs, an average of just over 61 million rubles will be allocated to one territory.

Against the background of federal spending on SME development, which annually reaches hundreds of billions of rubles, 3.5 billion rubles look like a targeted measure. Successful special economic zones, including Alabuga and Technopolis Moscow, independently and with the support of the regions allocate tens of billions of rubles for infrastructure. Therefore, the allocated limit will help the most problematic single-industry towns, where the risks of unemployment are particularly high.

The funds will not be transferred to entrepreneurs directly: The government will send them to banks to compensate for part of the interest rate and secure loans at a rate of 6%. With a high key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, this scheme allows to increase the actual amount of financing: 3.5 billion rubles of budget subsidies can provide about 15-20 billion rubles of loans for businesses. Nationwide, this is a small amount of support, but for the first 150-200 enterprises that will be able to benefit from preferential financing, the program can be a significant help in the face of expensive market loans.

The concessional financing program has been in effect since the end of 2025 and is in demand by companies from industry, construction, IT, trade and tourism. Over the past 3 months, enterprises in Kamensk-Uralsky, Dagestan Lights, Ust-Katava and Berezovsky have received about 447 million rubles with state support, Alexander Isaevich, CEO of SME Corporation, told Izvestia.

In total, since the beginning of the program, the business has attracted 959.5 million rubles. This amount included concessional loans for 728 million rubles: funds were provided at 6% for investment projects and 10% for turnaround tasks. Another 231 million rubles were guaranteed. Thanks to the financing, the enterprises were able to upgrade existing facilities and open new production facilities, saving and creating almost 1,000 jobs.

Over 50% of borrowers belong to industry, 38% to trade and services, and about 7% to transportation and logistics. Agriculture and construction are also among the five most active areas. 33 companies from the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Lipetsk and Yaroslavl regions, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kuzbass, as well as Dagestan and Mordovia have already received support.

In the SME support program in single—industry towns, about 50% of concessional loans are received by manufacturing companies, and almost 40% by businesses from trade and services, Dmitry Zavyalov, PhD in Economics, Dean of the Higher School of Economics and Business at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told Izvestia. At the same time, the state prioritizes projects that can change the structure of the local economy: industrial production, processing and technological areas. The territories also need shops and service enterprises, but their sustainability is more strongly related to the purchasing power of residents and the financial condition of large employers.

What else is needed

Concessional financing makes it easier for businesses to access borrowed resources, but loans alone are not enough. The development of SMEs is hampered by the lack of suitable industrial sites and modern logistics infrastructure. An additional limitation is the shortage of personnel: the emergence of new industries, such as tourism, can increase competition for specialists and lead to the departure of skilled workers from large urban enterprises.

Financial benefits are not enough for small businesses to become an independent pillar of the economy of single-industry towns and SEZs. Entrepreneurs are hampered by a lack of specialists, limited demand and the high cost of infrastructure, so support should be expanded in several areas at once. For small companies, tax breaks can be introduced for the first 3-5 years, up to 50% of the first lease payment for domestic equipment can be compensated and insurance premiums can be reduced to 7.6%; mandatory purchases of city-forming enterprises from local suppliers in the amount of 15-20%, SME training programs for the requirements of large customers and compensation for logistics costs will be an additional incentive for sales.

A separate set of measures should solve the problem of production sites and personnel. In single-industry towns, it is possible to create mini-industrial parks with ready-made premises with an area of 100-500 square meters. and connected communications, and for new productions to cancel the fee for technological connection to the networks. Lifting fees in the amount of 1-2 million rubles according to the "Zemsky Entrepreneur" model will help attract specialists and entrepreneurs, and retraining residents for specific SME vacancies, including CNC operators, technologists and engineers.

Financial benefits alone are not enough for small businesses to become an independent pillar of the economy of single-industry towns and SEZs. Entrepreneurs here are simultaneously faced with a shortage of specialists, weak demand and expensive infrastructure, so support should help not only attract money, but also find sales markets. Additional tax breaks, affordable equipment leasing, reducing the burden on the payroll, as well as the inclusion of local companies in the supply chains of large enterprises and compensation for part of the logistical costs can play an important role.

Equally important are the conditions for launching the production itself and training personnel. Ready-made platforms with connected communications and simplified access to networks will reduce barriers for new companies, and retraining programs will allow job openings to meet the real needs of local businesses.

Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Energy, but no response had been received at the time of publication.