Moderator: Dmitry Sazonov, Chair, Commission on the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation

Providing SMEs with access to state and municipal purchasing requirements and to the supply chain for major companies is of vital importance in ensuring sales opportunities for the output from SMEs. The issue which must be addressed is the integration of SMEs into the economy so that they can become part of a larger industrial chain. Such a mechanism would provide the necessary support. Questions relating to the regulation of this process, and of raising and maintaining the quality of products and services from SMEs must also be resolved.

Moderator: Alexander Kalinin, President, OPORA Russia

The administrative and legal regulatory systems in some sectors and areas remain unfriendly to smaller businesses and do not take into account the specifics of how smaller economic units operate. The cost of adhering to regulatory requirements is rising continually. Reporting requirements for businesses are also increasing. In his Address to the Federal Assembly, the Russian President set the task of eliminating superfluity and duplication in the functions of the supervisory and regulatory organs. This will require, among other things, that all administrative barriers be listed and that all electronic services be unified into one system. The successful completion of the task set depends to a large degree on how effectively this is carried out. Frequent changes to legislation also have a negative effect on doing business.

Moderator: Andrei Sharov, Vice President, Head, Small Business Development Department, Sberbank

There is a shortage of both qualified and unqualified staff in many business sectors, including SMEs. This calls for a development of methods used to train and retrain staff, and for close cooperation between educational institutions and business, and for a breakthrough in entrepreneurial potential. Today only 4.7% of Russians of working age are starting a business of their own (data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for Russia 2014).

Moderator: Victor Ermakov, Special Representative of the Presidential Commission for Entrepreneurs’ Rights

Cooperation between Russia and Latin American and Caribbean nations is growing confidently in the current economic climate. To strengthen this interaction, our countries must regularly share best practices and build direct relationships between our business communities.

Moderators:
Takhir Bikbaev, Board Member, OPORA Russia
Anders Blom, Board Chairman, Eurofacts Oy

Finnish and Russian SMEs are facing a new economic reality: economic sanctions and counter sanctions, decrease in Finnish export activities in Russia, dramatic change of rouble exchange rate, activization of Russian import substitution, localization of imported goods production and support for Russian companies’ export activities, new competitive advantages of products made in Russia, switch to the perception of China as the best place for localization. Finnish SMEs want to keep or increase their presence on the Russian market and consider opening production facilities in Russia. They will bring to Russia new technologies, highly competitive products, modern equipment and business models. Russian SMEs with export potential can use new competitive advantages due to the rouble exchange rate and need reliable partners and subcontractors/contractors abroad, e.g. in Finland.

Moderator: Andrey Shubin, Executive Director, OPORA Russia

An important niche market traditionally occupied by SMEs is the provision of consumer services to the market, including in the tourist sector. Taking the country’s current geopolitical and economic circumstances into account, the primary focus for tourism is domestic tourism. Developing this will create new jobs not only in travel agencies, but also in the infrastructure of Russian towns and resorts, which hold major potential for small and medium-sized businesses. Supporting and developing domestic tourism means, in the first instance, a wide range of support mechanisms for businesses in this area, which take the specific aspects of the sector into account.

Moderator: Pavel Samiev, Managing Partner, National Agency for Financial Studies

Lending to SMEs is still one of the more risky types of lending, since small businesses are more susceptible to changes in the market and in demand for their products. Limited access to finance is, according to entrepreneurs, the main difficulty they face. This is also true of the extremely high interest rates on borrowing, the complexity in obtaining long-term loans and the impossibility of obtaining credit for development with deferred repayments. A range of questions must be resolved relating to the improvement of access to finance and to providing small businesses with information about state support measures, including developing an interactive information service about state financial support, offering educational events to improve the financial literacy of entrepreneurs and developing an investment elevator.

Moderator: Nikolai Dunayev, Member of the Presidium, OPORA Russia; Director General, Energoservice

Small and medium-sized businesses can be a significant force not only in the service sector, but also in manufacturing, especially with regard to innovation. It is clear that the impetus to develop in this direction has come from the trend towards import substitution. There is no need, however, to settle for the domestic market alone. Once replacements for foreign products have been created, they must be introduced to foreign markets, improving the Russian economy’s competitive edge. The main factor in this process is state support for Russian companies working in the export sector. Today, they face a long list of systemic problems, including the difficulty of establishing partnerships abroad; insufficient information about the criteria products must meet in order to be sold on foreign markets; lack of a qualified workforce; limited access to bank financing; challenges in navigating customs procedures, etc. Other issues that must be addressed include currency control, assistance with promotion, infrastructure support for the export sector (an ‘export elevator’ system), protection of intellectual property, and technology transfer. To meet these challenges, the Russian Export Center was created in 2015 to serve as a national body designed to integrate export support programmes. In Russia’s regions, the Center will rely on the infrastructure created by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation to support export-oriented small and medium-sized companies. Successful implementation of these support tools will require two-way communication with companies, conducted effectively via public business associations.

Moderator: Slava Khodko, Chairman, North-West Development and Investment Promotion Agency; Member of the Investment Council under the Chairman of the State Duma of Russia

The agenda for the plenary session will be based on the key issues which small and medium-sized businesses face today. They will be derived from the themes discussed during the preceding sessions: broadening opportunities for the sale of SME products, improving the competitiveness of SME-produced goods, investment in SMEs, and improving state regulation with regard to small and medium-sized businesses. Solving these issues will assist in achieving the aims set out in the SME Development Strategy in the Russian Federation to 2030, which will also be presented and discussed during the session.

As part of the programme on the day before the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum begins, an official dinner will be held at the Russian–Chinese Business Centre.

Russia will be represented at the event by members of the Government of St. Petersburg and heads of leading business associations and unions, including the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region. 

China will be represented by members of the Association of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (the China Chamber of International Commerce), and representatives of administrative bodies in China. 

For those attending the Russian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Forum, there will be a shuttle service running from the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre to the Lenexpo Exhibition Complex at 18:00.

Entry to the event is by invitation only.