Fund for Work: Putin offered business support measures and counts on its investments in development

Launching a new investment cycle and strengthening the link between the state and private business for the sake of economic sovereignty is the main task that Vladimir Putin set at the Business Russia forum—congress. On October 15, the head of state talked with entrepreneurs for more than 2.5 hours, discussing the fight against bureaucracy and challenges to national security. Kiev itself began escalating attacks on civilian infrastructure related to trade, and Moscow does not leave such attacks unanswered, the president stressed. The Ukrainian authorities must realize the consequences of their attacks and move on to concrete solutions for de-escalation, the Federation Council told Izvestia. Business protection and support solutions are already available. For example, Putin agreed with the idea of creating a system of "growth funds" to attract long-term financing, instructed to remove unnecessary requirements for the export of certain goods through digital platforms, and spoke positively about the prospects for the introduction of deferred tax deductions.

Responding to external threats

The format of the president's meeting with business this year turned out to be unusual: Vladimir Putin contacted the Kremlin's situation center together with the leader of Delovaya Rossiya, Alexei Repik, and Deputy head of the presidential administration, Maxim Oreshkin. More than 800 people gathered at the forum of the association of entrepreneurs, from market leaders to young startup authors. Vladimir Putin talked with them for over 2.5 hours.

Today, entrepreneurs have stopped living exclusively in the earnings paradigm: they have become an active part of civil society, support their fighters, develop the urban environment, launch corporate demographic programs and finance education.

Business issues have always been closely linked to national security, and this is especially acute now. In recent months, marketplace warehouses, data centers, and refineries have repeatedly been targeted by Ukrainian drones. The purpose of these attacks was to destabilize the domestic market and disrupt the supply of the population, the president said. In response, Russia attacked the Ukrainian energy system, demonstrating the inevitability of mirror measures.

"They're always taking some steps that, frankly, we probably should have foreseen, but we thought they wouldn't think of that. They figured it out. We're starting to respond. Then they immediately ask their sponsors to influence us and stop us," the president stated.

Russia does not rule out the possibility of de-escalating attacks on infrastructure if specific proposals are received from Kiev, Grigory Karasin, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, told Izvestia. But, according to him, the Ukrainian authorities must realize the consequences of their attacks and move on to concrete solutions.

— We are ready for any reasonable suggestions. We are not particularly impressed by any imitation of activity from Kiev, trips around Europe, eye-rolling, and so on. We need concrete proposals and concrete solutions," the senator stressed.

According to him, further escalation threatens serious consequences, and the Kiev regime has long crossed the red lines. Vladimir Putin stressed that Ukraine itself had provoked the collapse of its infrastructure.

"They took the first step, we started responding — now they are already beeping in the energy sector, and in other facilities. They started. I shouldn't have started, I should have thought about the consequences before taking this step," he said.

The topic of business security in the truest sense of the word was raised by the head of the united company Wildberries and Russ (RWB) Tatiana Kim. She immediately thanked the government for its prompt anti-crisis support, including tax holidays and supervisory breaks. Thanks to her, the platform business was able to rebuild logistics after the terrorist attacks in just a couple of months, she stressed.

Now, Kim is asking to adapt the requirements of various departments for the export of certain categories of goods through digital platforms, as the promotion of products abroad has faced outdated regulatory requirements. Phytosanitary control, tailored to the usual wholesale trade, has become a brake: within the framework of the platform economy, an entrepreneur has to issue a complete package of documents for literally every single pack of buckwheat sent to a foreign buyer, which makes such exports economically meaningless. Easing the regime will at least give an impetus to mass exports.

Maxim Reshetnikov, the head of the Ministry of Economy, who joined the discussion, confirmed that a compromise was already being worked out at the EAEU site within the framework of the electronic commerce agreement. The first step will be to abolish the mandatory phytosanitary certificate for single mail items weighing up to 5 kg, and then the conditions will be agreed upon with each partner state.

— As a large business, it is very valuable for us that we can broadcast important proposals to the state. Today we raised the issue of adapting the requirements for exporting certain categories of goods through digital platforms, for example, for food. As a result, the changes will contribute to the annual growth of non—primary, non-energy exports," Tatiana Kim told Izvestia.

The President called the platform economy Russia's main modern competitive advantage, which needs to be quickly cleared of outdated bureaucratic barriers. At the same time, Putin set the task for officials and businesses to remove excessive control, but fully preserve the trust of foreign buyers in the quality of domestic products.

Investments in growth and new rules for R&D

"In these objectively difficult times, Russian business is demonstrating a responsible civic position. In this sense, the entrepreneurial class has become an active part of civil society. Our entrepreneurs work hard every day to prove that their interests and plans are firmly linked to Russia," the president stressed.

And the government is ready to continue to support and protect businesses. The main direction is the launch of a new investment cycle, Vladimir Putin stressed. The government is counting on large-scale private investments in technology, logistics, creative industries and tourism.

The format of the meeting made it possible to resolve the accumulated issues "without leaving the cash register": the initiatives of entrepreneurs were immediately analyzed by the relevant ministers. The first topic on the agenda was the creation of a system of "growth funds" — they will give medium-sized businesses access to long-term investments, the so-called long money, to scale and launch an IPO.

Since bank loans are expensive, and Western private equity funds have left, they propose to launch an investment cycle using internal resources — savings of citizens, pension and insurance funds. This will increase the capitalization of the stock market to 66% of GDP by 2030. At the same time, the president stressed that the protection of pension savings should be "guaranteed with reinforced concrete." The head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, agreed, suggesting that such funds should be made transparent exchange-traded products.

Denis Astafyev, founder of the SharesPro fintech platform, emphasizes that the exchange's work alone does not solve the problem of capital shortage in the real sector. The creation of "growth funds" can reduce business dependence on loans, but it is not enough just to expand opportunities, including attracting pension funds. In his opinion, without predictable taxes, personnel, and investor protection, additional money risks not increasing output, but only raising the cost of the projects themselves.

At the same time, the business has achieved a revision of the R&D rules: instead of cumbersome registries, a list of exceptions is introduced, research costs are allowed to be immediately written off, and technologies lost due to sanctions are recognized for innovations. The president has given exactly one month to sort out the nuances of the budget.

In the pharmaceutical industry, in particular, deferred tax deductions were given the green light with the participation of VEB.RF. The scheme is transparent: the company takes a loan for a ten-year cycle (five years of development and five years of sales), and if the drug successfully enters the market, the difference between the market and preferential rates is compensated by new taxes. Vladimir Putin countered the Ministry of Finance's wariness about VEB's risks with a smile: "There are always risks. But those who don't take risks don't turn to Titov at Abrau-Durso.

There are also developments in the tourism industry: resort SEZs will be allowed to sell hotel rooms to private investors to attract their funds to the construction site. But the conditions are tough: the money will go strictly through escrow accounts, and the facilities are required to operate as full-fledged hotels under the management of a single operator.

The president paid special attention to the agricultural industry and communication with the head of the EkoNiva company Stefan Duerr, with whom the head of state had a warm dialogue.

— I remember at one of the events — in my opinion, it was a direct line - you strongly criticized us for low milk prices. It was you," Vladimir Putin clarified with a smile.

"It wasn't me,— the agrarian joked.

Despite the fact that over the past decade Russia has increased food supplies to world markets 2.5 times and has become one of the twenty largest exporters, there is still potential for growth in the dairy sector: imports still account for about 15% of the market. To close this gap, businesses need to shift their focus from ordinary raw milk to deep processing, but such a product is still being purchased abroad.

EkoNiva clarified to Izvestia that the companies are already moving to the production of deep—processed ingredients - components for children's, medical and sports nutrition. Businesses need government support to enter the BRICS and Southeast Asian markets. Vladimir Putin supported the agrarians, recommending that they try the products of the German entrepreneur's company, and the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Oksana Luth, confirmed that over 12 billion rubles have been allocated for logistics subsidies, and the agency is promptly adapting export rules.