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- Ask for a grant: government support for small businesses has grown for the first time in a long time
Ask for a grant: government support for small businesses has grown for the first time in a long time
State aid to small and medium-sized businesses has started to grow again after a prolonged reduction. Last year, its volume decreased by 6%, and in the first half of 2026 - by 17%. However, by the end of September, the trend had reversed. In nine months, the number of recipients of state support among sole proprietors has also increased significantly — by 27%, to 196,000 people. Grants and preferential leasing are becoming an alternative to expensive loans, allowing businesses to invest in development. What helped reverse the recession is in the Izvestia article.
How the government supports small businesses
The volume of direct financial support for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) from the state reached 69.7 billion rubles in the first nine months of 2026. The indicator has been decreasing for a long time. Last year, it fell by 6% (compared to 2024), and in the first half of this year — by 17% (compared to the same period in 2025). However, by the end of September, the trend turned in the opposite direction, according to a study by the Rodionoff Group consulting agency (Izvestia has it). The company conducted an analysis based on data from the Federal Tax Service.
So far, the growth in January–September has been small — about 2% — but it is of great importance that the trend has been reversed, said Ivan Rodionov, managing partner of the agency.
Among the recipients, the most striking dynamics was demonstrated by individual entrepreneurs. During these nine months, their number increased by 26.6%, to 195.9 thousand people, compared to the same period last year. Before that, the indicator was also falling. If in 2024 it was 197.5 thousand, then in 2025 it dropped to 154.7 thousand.
In general, the total number of recipients of state support (including the self-employed) has increased by 13.5% this year, to 343.6 thousand people, the study says.
The main instrument of such financial support is grants. This is gratuitous assistance from the authorities for the launch or development of enterprises. According to the results of nine months, grants were provided for 56.3 billion rubles (+8.1% compared to last year).
Preferential leasing also jumped by 12.7% to 2.4 billion rubles. According to this mechanism, the government compensates leasing companies for part of the lost revenue, so that businesses take equipment on more favorable terms than in the commercial sector.
At the same time, non-financial support from the state has increased the most this year. As noted in the study, the number of cases of information assistance increased by 52.6%, consulting — by 5.1%, educational — by 2.5%. Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Energy and the Federal Tax Service.
Why the volume of state aid to SMEs is growing
One of the main reasons for the growth of state support is pent—up demand against the background of adaptation, said Sergey Elin, Deputy Chairman of the Bureau for the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights at the Moscow branch of Opora Russia.
— Business saw that rates began to decrease cautiously, that the situation was not getting worse further, and began to unfreeze investment decisions. Leasing, which grew by 12.7%, is the most sensitive indicator. It shows that entrepreneurs are willing to invest in equipment and expansion when the planning horizon becomes a little more predictable," he explained.
The government has seen that the support is not being smeared, but is providing a refund in the form of taxes and jobs. This became an argument for reversing the trend towards lower financing, the expert believes.
Enterprises are "starving" in anticipation of the necessary support measures, so now it looks like a shot from a previously compressed spring, said Alexey Begaev, founder of Insek Group, member of the General Council of Delovaya Rossiya.
According to him, inflation made a small contribution to the growth. It makes business projects more expensive than previously estimated. This means that more funds have to be invested in their launch or development.
The expansion of non—financial instruments, such as consultations, training, and guarantees, has also had an impact, Sergei Yelin believes. This lowered the barrier of entry for those who were previously afraid to even ask for support.
What is the reason for the increase in the number of recipients among sole proprietors?
Over the past 12 months, the share of sole proprietors in small businesses has increased by 3 percentage points, or 330 thousand people, the SME Corporation told Izvestia.
This trend is related to the adaptation of business to modern economic conditions and the search for optimal forms of doing business, more convenient and more flexible, they explained. Among the advantages are the ease of registration and reporting, administrative management and more comfortable tax conditions.
The mechanism of providing assistance has become clearer, Daniil Gonenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Finance of the Public Sector at the Presidential Academy, agreed. Support options can now be selected and arranged online, without going to offices. Therefore, more and more people are applying for it.
Until recently, many individual entrepreneurs did not know about the existing measures at all or mistakenly believed that state aid was available only to legal entities, said Sergey Elin from Opora Russia.
— In addition, there has been a shift in favor of classical entrepreneurship. In the first half of the year, the share of the self-employed in the structure of direct financial support decreased to 49.7%, while sole proprietors and organizations increased their presence. This suggests that support is gradually shifting towards those who create jobs and conduct full—fledged business activities, rather than just using special tax regimes," he said.
The government focuses on promising businesses that can demonstrate multiple growth, the expert added. Sole proprietors actively fit into this logic — they are more flexible, adapt faster, and often work in niches where a grant or preferential lease provides immediate returns, concluded Sergey Elin.
In times of expensive loans, this support format becomes a good alternative to bank loans, it gives businesses the opportunity to invest in development, experts emphasized.
Assistance to entrepreneurs is important, especially in government-priority sectors, said Yulia Kovalenko, Deputy Head of the Moscow Higher School of Economics at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. Support is always needed to stimulate and develop, not only financially, but also legally, as well as technologically.
It is also important where the money goes, said Daniil Gonenko from the Presidential Academy. For example, leasing is used for equipment and machinery, that is, for the development of the real sector.
He also added that as long as the Central Bank keeps the rate at 14%, market loans for small companies will be very expensive. At the same time, government support allows small businesses to grow to medium-sized businesses, which include production, jobs, and taxes. Over the year, the number of medium-sized enterprises in the SME register increased by 10%, to 24.4 thousand, which was the highest since 2017.
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