The United States and the EU continue to exert sanctions pressure on Russia – they have moved from the persecution of individual politicians and business structures to broader restrictions that directly affect the interests of citizens, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during a meeting with the Cabinet. To develop support measures, the government is transferring the government commission on improving the stability of the Russian economy under sanctions into the operational headquarters mode, Mishustin said. He added that he would head the operational headquarters himself, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov would oversee macroeconomic issues and develop measures at the federal level, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin would coordinate decisions at the regional level.
The prime minister emphasized the openness of Russia to work with foreign business.
“We still consider foreign businesses as potential partners, and we are open to dialogue with constructive investors,” Mishustin stressed.
Many foreign companies have been working on the Russian market for a long time, they have created industries with highly paid jobs, invested resources and time to bring production to full capacity, established logistics chains, he noted: in the current sanctions situation, foreign entrepreneurs are forced to be guided not by economic factors, but by political ones. pressure.
To enable businesses to make informed decisions, a draft presidential decree has been prepared to introduce temporary restrictions on exiting Russian assets, Mishustin explained the decision.
“We hope that those who have invested in our country will be able to work in it further. I am sure that the sanctions pressure will eventually subside and those who will not curtail projects in our country, succumbing to the slogans of foreign politicians, will win,” the head of the Cabinet said.
Yours in priority
The authorities will pay special attention to measures to support domestic business, Mishustin noted. For backbone enterprises, two groups of measures have been formed: targeted assistance to those who find themselves in a difficult situation due to sanctions, and general measures. Now the business will need time to change the logical chains and replenish working capital, he explained.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, the government is considering additional support measures with the Bank of Russia to subsidize and fund banks that work with this sector, Mishustin said: public procurement, this needs to be controlled separately.”
Another direction of support is investments, the Prime Minister added. It is necessary to create the most favorable conditions for entrepreneurs, remove unnecessary administrative barriers, and form mechanisms to support already launched investment projects, he stressed. In addition, it is necessary “to facilitate public procurement procedures as much as possible, reducing excessive requirements.”
In addition, the Ministry of Finance is preparing proposals for a capital amnesty, which will allow more funds to be allocated for the implementation of new projects in Russia, he recalled.
“Import substitution should become the main focus of our activity, and businesses involved in this area should receive additional support measures,” Mishustin said. It is necessary to stimulate changes in the structure of the economy in order to further get away from “raw material dependence, increasing the share of high-tech industries,” the head of the Cabinet emphasized.
The situation associated with external restrictions is not easy, there are more and more Russian companies that fall under various kinds of sanctions, Mishustin noted: it is important to support them.
Earlier, in response to the sanctions, the Russian authorities published the first batch of countermeasures. The package is aimed at restrictions on the cross-border movement of capital. The list included, among other things, a ban on providing foreign currency to non-residents under loan agreements, a ban on residents crediting foreign currency to their foreign accounts and deposits. Also, Russian residents are prohibited from making cross-border transfers through foreign payment systems without opening a bank account in Russia.
In addition, as Vedomosti wrote, the Central Bank prepared an order prohibiting professional participants in the financial market from transferring income from securities of Russian issuers to foreign individuals and legal entities from February 28. In fact, we are talking about a moratorium on the withdrawal of dividends and interest on bonds. There will be a ban on the withdrawal of “subsidiaries” of foreign holdings of profits abroad, said a source close to the government. The information was confirmed by two federal officials.
On February 28, the Ministry of Finance announced a new capital amnesty against the background of the EU decision to limit the placement of Russian capital in European countries. The amnesty is needed to “guarantee Russian capital that is abroad today,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov explained.