The SME Forum

What are the Key Barriers and Bottlenecks for Small Business to Access Financial Markets? Open Debate

05 Jun , 10:00–11:30
Russian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Forum
Investment Track
Pavilion G, conference hall G3

Availability of credit to small businesses remains a pressing problem for the banking system and the economy as a whole. Low loan rates and government support programmes were the main drivers of the SME-lending segment in 2018. As part of the federal project ‘Expansion of access for SMEs to financial resources, including preferential financing’, a number of programmes for preferential lending for SMEs were re-launched. Public funding is available at subsidized interest rates and the list of authorized banks is being extended. Are entrepreneurs well-informed about the availability of subsidies and what their key needs are? Notwithstanding the large quantity of public funds and programmes currently in operation, their ability to target the correct recipients and the efficiency of resource allocation remains questionable. The team ‘Entrepreneurs’ and the team ‘Financiers’ will discuss availability of small business financing, as well as the scope and reach of state support programmes for SMEs. The discussion will touch upon the topical issues of account blocking and blacklisting, as well as the effectiveness of support programmes.
Key topics to be addressed in the session are:
• How can the transparency of blacklisting processes be increased and losses from account blocking reduced?
• Can the rates of the loans available to SMEs be low and the SME lending grow rapidly at the same time?
• How effective are support programmes and are businesses aware of the support available to them? How widespread is the practice of SMEs receiving funds?

Moderator
Pavel Samiyev, Editor-in-Chief, Financial Sphere Section of Bankovskoye Obozreniye Magazine

Arbitrators
Dmitry Golovanov, Chairman of the Board, SME Bank
Mikhail Mamuta, Head of Service for Protection of Consumer Rights and Ensuring the Availability of Financial Services, Member of the Board of Directors, Central Bank of the Russian Federation

Entrepreneurs Team
Sergey Bekrenev, President, European Legal Service
Marina Bludyan, First Vice President, All-Russian Non-Governmental Organization of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses OPORA RUSSIA
Victoria Kuznetsova, Member of the Board, Deputy General Director, Russian Small and Medium Business Corporation
Arseniy Poyarkov, President, BusinessDrom
Ruslan Yalovenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rus Agro-Industrial Complex

Financiers Team
Konstantin Basmanov, Head of Small and Medium Enterprises Unit, Promsvyazbank
Konstantin Bobrov, Chairman, URALSIB BANK
Dmitry Peshnev-Podolsky, Chairman of the Executive Board, BKS Bank
Anastasiya Sergeyeva, Deputy Executive Director, Fund of Small Business Credit Assistance of Moscow
Alexander Chernoshchekin, Advisor to the President and Chairman of the Board, Sviaz-Bank

Broadcast