Bank of Russia proposes to change criteria for classifying companies as small and medium-sized enterprises
According to the Bank of Russia, the Unified Register of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (the register of SMEs, which is prepared according to formal criteria) now includes a significant number of companies, which are difficult to classify as a SME segment.
A number of such enterprises have a scale of business, which is disproportional for SMEs. Many companies are included in the perimeter of large industrial groups, housing developers and banks.
Such a definition of the SME segment leads to negative consequences, namely distortion of this economic segment’s indicators, a decrease in the efficiency of governmental support allocation, and the risks of regulatory arbitrage.
Participants in the Bank of Russia’s Working Group on Financing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises discussed possible ways to solve this problem, including options for revising the criteria of classifying companies as SMEs.
The final proposals will be formulated taking into account the opinions of business societies, banking associations, the expert community, interested ministries and state agencies.