Guaranteed well-being of Alexander Braverman. "The development model based on the extraction of raw materials is exhausting itself" Braverman Small and Medium Business Development Fund

Exactly one year ago, the Federal Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) was established. This structure operates with billions of rubles, which should go to the development of the private sector of the economy. In an interview with Kommersant, the general director of the corporation, ALEXANDER BRAVERMAN, told how it is planned to distribute these funds, who will guarantee the repayment of loans by small and medium-sized businesses, and whether they will be able to participate in the purchases of state-owned companies.

— Why do we need a separate structure for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, when there are other mechanisms to support this sector?

- The need to create single platform to coordinate support for SMEs is long overdue. Numerous actions of the state in the segment of the development of small and medium-sized businesses were multidirectional. As a result, it was not possible to fully achieve the stated goals - for example, in terms of expanding the share of small and medium-sized businesses in the procurement of companies with state participation or creating conditions for providing entrepreneurs with affordable financing. Therefore, by decree of President Vladimir Putin in June last year, our corporation was created. The role of the corporation as a single support center is also mentioned in the strategy for the development of small and medium-sized businesses until 2030, recently approved by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

- Have federal officials finally realized that oil is not a constant value for the budget?

— It is obvious that the development model based on the extraction of hydrocarbon raw materials is exhausting itself. Current situation (in the economy.— "b") showed that diversification is the main issue on the economic agenda, and this, as world experience shows, is possible primarily due to the development and support of small and medium-sized businesses. But this must be done purposefully and as technologically as possible.

- On the one hand, the federal authorities declare support for small and medium-sized businesses, on the other hand, regional officials sometimes demonstrate the diametrically opposite. Let's take, for example, the scandal in Moscow with the demolition of stalls, the owners of which paid taxes to the same city budget...

- The Moscow authorities and personally Mayor Sergei Sobyanin contribute to the creation of legal jobs through the systematic development of small and medium-sized businesses. The capital is far ahead of other cities in the country in terms of the number of technology parks and business incubators. Having become residents of technoparks, the same medium and small companies engaged, for example, in the production of high-tech products, reduce their spending on infrastructure and the creation production sites, security. If you look at the statistics, then in Moscow the number of registered enterprises, jobs and tax revenues to the budget is only increasing every year.

Will the corporation promote acceptance federal laws making life easier for small and medium-sized businesses?

We have the right to make proposals for improving legislation. So, for example, the corporation, together with the Ministry of Economic Development and State Duma deputies, made a proposal regarding the streamlining of the work of regional guarantee organizations (RGO), which today, to put it mildly, has not been settled. Now this bill is being prepared for the second reading in the State Duma.

- What is the essence of your proposals?

— The budget of the Russian Geographical Society, which provides guarantees for loans to small and medium-sized businesses, is 80% formed by federal budget, the rest is the funds of the regions. At the same time, the state does not actually manage these organizations, although it sends funds there in the form of subsidies. That is, the money was transferred regardless of whether this or that RGO works well or badly, whether it gives guarantees to banks on loans for small and medium-sized businesses or not. The proposals are that those regional guarantee organizations that do not work well and do not interact with entrepreneurs and banks lending to projects of small and medium-sized businesses should be deprived of federal subsidies. Now we have built a three-level model of guarantee support for small and medium-sized businesses.

— What does she represent?

— The first level is the SME corporation, which provides guarantees of medium and large sizes. As a rule, we are talking about guarantees for loans, the amount of which exceeds 100 million rubles. Applications for obtaining guarantees for such loans are considered from three to ten days. Plus, we provide guarantees under the 6.5% Program, which encourages banks to lend to projects of small and medium-sized businesses. By the beginning of June, such guarantees and guarantees have already been issued for about 10 billion rubles, and by the end of this year we plan to 30 billion rubles. The size of the guarantee portfolio from 14.5 billion rubles. for six months of the corporation's operation has grown to 27 billion rubles. Applications worth up to 69 billion rubles are currently being processed.

The second level is the SME Bank, where the corporation has been the sole shareholder since the end of April 2016. The Bank provides guarantees for projects ranging in value from RUB 15 million to RUB 50 million. Since the beginning of this year, SME Bank has issued guarantees for 1 billion rubles, while at the end of 2016 there should be 12 billion rubles. The third level is 81 regional guarantee organizations. They issue guarantees up to 25 million rubles. Of the total amount of guarantees planned for this year, 23 billion rubles. all the Russian Geographical Society allocated 9.6 billion rubles in total.

All in all, by the end of 2016, it is planned to allocate guarantees for a total amount of 65 billion rubles in three areas. The analysis shows that with this amount of guarantee support, the volume of lending to small and medium-sized businesses will amount to at least 130 billion rubles.

— You mentioned the 6.5% Program. Can small and medium-sized businesses get loans from banks at such a percentage?

- Within the framework of this program, the Central Bank provides authorized banks under the guarantee of our corporation loans at a rate of 6.5% per annum. In turn, banks issue loans to end borrowers at a rate of 11% for small businesses and 10% for medium businesses. The amount of loans varies from 50 million to 1 billion rubles, these funds should be used to purchase fixed assets, modernize and reconstruct production, launch new projects, as well as to replenish working capital. In relation to one borrower, the total loan amount under the program cannot exceed 4 billion rubles.

— Is this program eligible for all SMEs without exceptions?

- So far, only those who work in priority sectors of the economy. For example, these are agribusiness, food production, transport, communications, high technologies, construction, and domestic tourism. Now 22 largest Russian banks are participating in the program, including Sberbank, VTB, Rosselkhozbank, Promsvyazbank. In March of this year, more than 90% of the funds of the limit set by the Bank of Russia in the amount of 50 billion rubles were used. Then the Board of Directors of the Central Bank decided to increase to 75 billion rubles. limit on provision to credit institutions under the "Program 6.5%".

— Is it easy now for SMEs producing import-substituting products to get loans, given that there are other institutions besides the corporation, for example, the Industrial Development Fund (IDF)?

“Now we are working on a system of financing SMEs that produce import-substituting products and those that are export-oriented. For example, the FRP issues loans for five years up to 300 million rubles. per transaction at 5% per annum. Undoubtedly, excellent conditions. But the main requirement is that the fund provides 50% of the required funding. At least 15% must be contributed by the shareholder. The remaining 35% will have to be taken at the market rate. It is difficult to take such a loan in the high-tech sector. In this case, representatives of SMEs can receive the remaining amount in our corporation under the same "6.5% Program". Besides, Russian fund direct investment can be included in the capital of medium-sized companies engaged in the non-primary sector, whose revenue is 0.5-2 billion rubles. The fund enters the capital of such companies (up to 50%) and exits in five to seven years. The same entrepreneurs who produce export-oriented products are credited by the Russian Export Center. Under the same program, we are closely cooperating with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. So, SMEs now have a fairly wide choice of instruments for financing investment projects. Moreover, the aforementioned development institutions have adopted a regulation on interaction, and consideration of the application should not exceed 46 days.

- But what about small and medium-sized enterprises selling products domestically, especially now, when demand is compressed?

— Infrastructure monopolies, JSCs with a state stake of 50% plus 1 share, demand for products is quite high.

Are state-owned companies ready to buy from small and medium-sized businesses?

- Ready. But they have their own requirements for the adequacy of the quality and price of products, plus delivery times. The government has identified a list of 35 specific customers who are required to purchase products from small and medium-sized businesses. With 22 largest customers, including Rosneft, Rostec, Russian Railways, Rosatom, Rostelecom, Rosseti, Uralvagonzavod, our corporation has signed cooperation agreements, active work on interaction with large customers continues.

— Can you give some figures to assess the capacity of the market for the purchase of products by companies with state participation from SMEs?

— Now the largest customers purchase over 98 thousand commodity items from SMEs, the volume of purchases for which competitions are held is about 520 billion rubles. By the end of this year, according to our forecasts, this amount will amount to approximately 1 trillion rubles. The total amount of contracts concluded by the largest customers with small and medium-sized businesses from January to April this year amounted to 348.3 billion rubles. Now the average share of such suppliers in the procurement structure of large state-owned companies exceeds 26%, which is 2.6 times higher than the quota set by the government. Purchases of products from SMEs are closely monitored by the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Prosecutor General's Office.

- Doesn't it seem strange to you the presence of the Prosecutor General's Office between two economic entities - state-owned companies and small and medium-sized businesses?

- It does not seem. To provide the largest customers necessary products SMEs need equipment. It is usually bought with loans or leased. For such borrowers, in some cases, loans are short-term, say up to three months. Imagine now: the customer delayed payment for a long time. In this case, for the entrepreneur, the cost borrowed money automatically increases, which can sometimes lead to the ruin of the company. Monitoring the implementation of legislation in the field of procurement is a direct function of the Prosecutor General's Office.

— For many SMEs, it is difficult to get certified...

- Mandatory certification of products manufactured for the largest customers is certainly needed, but now obtaining the necessary certificate requires serious expenses, which is not always affordable for SMEs. The high cost of the procedure sometimes cuts off small and medium-sized businesses from participating in tenders of the largest companies. In our opinion, this (product certification.— "b") non-core business for the largest companies, and despite the fact that it is necessary, it should be regulated in terms of price parameters.

- There is another problem - the lack of accurate information on the number of small and medium-sized enterprises actually operating in the country ...

- Gradually, this problem is being solved. There was a presidential order to create unified register SMEs. In addition to the parameters of the number of employees and the volume of revenue, it will also include, in a declarative manner, a range of products manufactured by small and medium-sized enterprises in a format that is as close as possible to the requirements of the largest customers. The execution of this order is controlled by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. This task is implemented by the Federal tax office. We are also assisted in this by the Committee on Budget and Taxes of the State Duma, headed by Andrey Makarov.

— Latest sociological surveys show that 60% of Russians believe that small and medium-sized businesses are important for the country's economy, which they trust more than big business. But at the same time, most of the respondents are not ready to do business. Do you think this is due to the fears of citizens that the state can change its attitude towards SMEs at any moment?

— I don't think so. Many of our fellow citizens are underinformed. Do you know, for example, which businesses should be developed in the areas of Moscow where you live? To answer this question, we are launching the SME Business Navigator. This resource gives entrepreneurs an understanding of where and what type of business can be developed. You choose the city, district, street and interactive map see the potential location of the business with estimates of the possible flow of customers, approximate monthly revenue.

Plus, it is also possible to find information about the competitive environment there. Moreover, the navigator will show the following information: whether there are premises in a particular area that are in federal, regional or municipal ownership (this allows you to rent such areas at a reduced cost), whether you can get a loan to start your own business, and what guarantee support is available from our corporation, SME bank or regional guarantee organization. An important issue is the cost of connecting to the infrastructure (electricity, gas, water, heat). In creating this part of the business navigator, we are supported by presidential aide Andrey Belousov and head of the presidential expert department Vladimir Simonenko.

- Does the navigator provide information only for major cities?

- The first stage, which starts in the coming days, covers 76 cities with a population of more than 250 thousand people. The second stage, the planned date for its implementation - the end of this year, covers 169 cities with a population of more than 100 thousand people. Further financial support and improvement of the business navigator for these cities, where approximately 60% of SMEs are concentrated in terms of numbers, generating 80% of income, will be carried out by the corporation. In parallel, the regions will be given a standard that they can replicate at the municipal level.

Interviewed by Khalil Aminov

SME Corporation

Dossier

The Federal Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME Corporation JSC) was established on the basis of the Credit Guarantee Agency in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation "On Measures for the Further Development of Small and Medium Enterprises" dated June 5, 2015. The only founder and shareholder is the Federal Property Management Agency. Authorized capital corporations - 50 billion rubles. Among the main goals is to provide support to small and medium-sized businesses, to attract Money, expansion for such enterprises of access to purchases of some customers, support of investment projects. Priority areas for warranty support are Agriculture, construction, manufacturing, transport and communications, production and distribution of electricity, gas and water, as well as import-substituting products. Applications worth up to 69 billion rubles are currently being processed. Until the end of 2016, it is planned to allocate guarantees in the amount of 65 billion rubles. Since April 2016, the corporation has owned 100% of JSC "SME Bank" (provides guarantees for projects worth up to 50 million rubles).

Braverman Alexander Arnoldovich

Private bussiness

Born on May 1, 1954 in Kharkov (Ukraine). In 1981 he graduated from the Kharkov Institute of Engineering and Economics, then postgraduate studies at the Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology (MITHT). He worked at the Moscow Cable Plant, taught at MITHT. In 1995-1997 - President of the Russian Marketing Association, Chairman of the Scientific and Advisory Council of the State Property Committee. Since 1996 - Member of the Board of the State Property Committee, Member of the Board of the RFBR. In 1997-1999 - First Deputy Head of the State Property Committee, then the Ministry of State Property. In January-March 1999, he served as minister. Since 2000 - First Deputy Minister of Property Relations, Secretary of State. In 2004, he became an adviser to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref. In 2006, he headed the Commission for the Development of the Affordable Housing Market under the Presidential Council for the Implementation of Priority National Projects. In August 2008, he was appointed General Director of the RHD Foundation. Since October 2015 - Head of the Federal Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises.

- Alexander Arnoldovich, speaking in general, what volumes of support for small and medium-sized businesses are we talking about now?
— Last year, the National Guarantee System provided credit and guarantee support in the amount of 233.8 billion rubles. at a final rate 3% below the market rate.

This year we expect this figure to be approximately 260-270 billion rubles.

And the cumulative result for three years will be more than 650 billion rubles.

— Could you outline the results of the work of the SME Corporation on a loan program with a final rate of 6.5% for small businesses?
- Speaking about the program with a final rate of 6.5%, I immediately want to indicate authorship as a native of science: it was an idea. More than 27 billion rubles have been issued under this program.

There are still 805 million rubles unspent. This is our money and.

I think we will allocate everything for 63 billion rubles together with the Ministry of Economic Development this year.

— What are the main accents in the work of the SME Corporation?
— We support start-ups, we support gazelles, and we support an investment lift that consolidates support for development institutions.

— What are the features of work on startups?
— The amount that we allocated to support startups in the form of guarantees is 2.15 billion rubles, which made it possible to attract loans for more than 4.5 billion rubles.

The amount on a national scale is small - let's be frank.

We are going to refocus next year. It will be a completely different amount.

— What are the features of obtaining loans by projects in the direction of investment lifts?
— 27 billion rubles were issued for 17 projects. The investment lift includes the corporation, and the REC. And the consolidation of these efforts allows you to issue a loan on extremely favorable terms.

We are talking about a limited range of industries - high-tech industries.

As a result, loans are issued on conditions below market ones, and the overall efforts allow exporting products. We have about 30 billion more projects in the pipeline.

- And the third direction that you spoke about is the "gazelles" ...
- Firstly, we gave a definition to the definition of "gazelles". We work here in the most dense way with a number of companies. These are, and the Industrial Development Fund, and others.

And we gave the working group a definition of what we mean by a "gazelle" - a company at least 3 years old, demonstrating revenue growth of 20% annually for three years.

We have 415 projects under consideration. Of these, the first stage is 27. We structured them by type of support. And we will do it. These are three breakthrough directions.

— Alexander Arnoldovich, this year, within the framework of the Innopraktika congress, communication issues are widely discussed as important factor productive cooperation between people and business development. How do you assess the significance of the event in this context, including for small and medium-sized businesses?

- From the point of view of small and medium-sized businesses, communication is one of the main factors of development. We are considering it for different levels: traditional verbal, based on online connections, and also based on artificial intelligence in the future. Since SMEs are the most flexible and adaptable form of business, communication will continue to play an increasingly important role in this regard.

— How necessary is cooperation between large, medium and small businesses for more efficient development of innovations in Russia?

- All over the world, small and medium-sized businesses are always integrated into the supply chains of large companies. Large enterprises produce certain goods, and in order to ensure the quality of the final product, certain standards must be followed. This, in turn, gives rise to the need to introduce or create additional competencies - technological, managerial, communication, safety related, and others. That is why large companies today are very interested in integrating small and medium-sized businesses into their supply chains and are actively investing in SMEs. This process is also taking place in Russia today, and at the fastest pace.

— How small and medium-sized enterprises are involved today in innovative development Russian economy?

— SMEs are providers of innovation for large companies. The decisive role in this vein is played by the speed of reaction of small and medium-sized businesses to the emergence of technological innovations.

If a large company wants to independently implement an innovative solution, this process must go through the so-called vertical - consist of several stages. In SMEs, such a vertical is either absent or simplified as much as possible. Therefore, new solutions large companies supplied by small and medium enterprises.

I would like to note that SMEs provide more than 23% of GDP today, but this is clearly not enough. The President set the task to approach the level of 40% by 2024 and involve another 5.8 million people in this sector. Thus, in this industry it will be possible to employ about 25 million citizens.

— The main area of ​​work of the SME Corporation is the support of small and medium-sized businesses. Can you take stock of 2018? What are the main achievements?

— I would like to note that as of 2018, we have opened two fundamentally new markets, which either did not exist in Russia before, or they were of a microscopic nature. First, we are talking about the supply of small and medium-sized enterprises to large businesses of their products, goods, works and services. If at the beginning of the SME Corporation's activities in 2015 the market volume was 64.7 billion rubles, or about $1 billion, then by the end of the year it grew to $2 billion and today it is almost 3 trillion rubles, or $47-48 billion. approaching this number. Thus, the market has actually grown more than 30 times.

In addition, the range of products that are now supplied by small and medium-sized enterprises has also expanded. If in 2015 we were talking about 8.4 thousand positions, then today the figure has increased to 360 thousand, and this includes not only simple goods, but also high-tech products.

• Alexander Braverman about the work of the SME Business Navigator service

Secondly, the market that develops in the field of digitalization is growing. I am now talking about our SME Business Navigator. This service for the provision of services to small and medium-sized businesses has no analogues in the world. We worked with all our sales offices abroad, looked at the markets of such integrators and saw that there are no analogues.

This product allows an entrepreneur to determine his market niche, market capacity, potential consumers, competitors, types of support, as well as calculate a business plan and get a loan at a reduced rate in one of the 46 banks accredited by the SME Corporation. These can be both banks with dominant state participation, as well as supporting regional credit organizations.

— In October, the SME Corporation signed a cooperation agreement with the Italian fund MikroKapitalSarl. What work is expected under this partnership?

— Mikro Kapital Sarl has a certain monetary weight and a desire to invest in the Russian economy. The company sees fairly rapid growth in certain sectors of the Russian economy and cities across the country. Finding such investment points for maximum profit while minimizing risks is the goal of the fund.

• Alexander Braverman on the cooperation of the SME Corporation with the Italian fund Mikro Kapital Sarl

The company has consolidated certain financial resources, in order to create the so-called leverage (the ratio of borrowed and equity capital), come to Russia with its help and, having your own contribution to the projects of the Russian Federation, already receive money on preferential terms in Russian banks. Moreover, the legal restriction on the 49% participation of foreign capital in SMEs has been lifted since August.

— What other foreign structures are you planning to develop cooperation with?

— We have very close cooperation in the Eurasian space: Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan. We have signed agreements with these countries, drawn up road maps, and now we are already implementing joint projects. If we take the far abroad, then it is mostly Germany and France.

Issues of implementing small business development assistance programs, in particular, small business support programs for older people, people with disabilities, women's small business, were discussed.

From the transcript:

D. Medvedev: Alexander Arnoldovich, you are the head of our main company, which promotes the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the country. The company has been on the market for a long time. Nevertheless, I would like you to report on what new programs to support small and medium-sized businesses have been launched in your country lately.

A.Braverman: One of the main new programs is aimed at older people. It implies mandatory retraining, primarily related to the products that the corporation has, a business navigator, which two years ago is digital resource, which makes it possible to open or develop your business in the shortest possible time. Second. A line of special products has been prepared both for companies where more than 50% of older people will work, and for individuals who want to open or develop their own business in various fields, service or high-tech. Third. We are now developing measures in this program to simplify the access of such companies to purchases and a number of other measures. In addition, financial support in a special way will also be targeted at this segment.

There are also programs that continue in a certain way. This is a program for women's entrepreneurship, a program for people with disabilities - as a special program. Agricultural cooperation program, there are 2.2 million personal subsidiary farms and peasant farms produce marketable products, which can be brought to the end consumer through specially created networks. This should be done through agricultural cooperatives, whose access to loans and leasing is also a special subject of our work. Four regional leasing companies - we are very grateful to the Government for establishing them and allocating funds. Here are some special programs. We will continue them.

Procurement program: we will reach 3 trillion rubles this year. This is not a special program, but it is a major market. By 2024, this program should contain 4.2 trillion rubles.

The business navigator, which is now used by more than 600,000 entrepreneurs, 52% of which showed growth in revenue or headcount, is also the most important online resource for us, which we are going to develop further. We hope it will become the basis for the digital platform as a whole - not only for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, but also as an integration platform.

D. Medvedev: Alexander Arnoldovich, you know that supporting small businesses is one of the key tasks in our country and is always mentioned in all policy documents - and in Presidential Decree No. 204, which was adopted on May 7 this year, and in other documents. Why? Because we proceed from the fact that the volume of production of small businesses in our country, the number of people involved in small businesses, still remain insufficient. The control figures are known: in our country, 20% of the population with a small one is engaged in small business. In most developed economies, this figure is somewhere over 50%. Therefore, we will definitely need to continue support programs. This also applies to general programs related to supporting small businesses in general, the possibility of obtaining loans for small businesses at reasonable rates. This also applies to individual target audiences.

Indeed, we need to work in the direction related to the support of certain groups of the population. And to do this, of course, reasonably, with an understanding of the specifics of life and the needs of a particular category of citizens of our country. In this context, small business support programs for people of mature age, women's small entrepreneurship, I hope, will find their audience. So I ask you to continue working on these programs and to pay due attention to them.

By autumn, the Housing Development Agency should be created in Russia, which will include the Federal Housing Development Fund (RHD) and the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending (AHML). The fund's general director ALEXANDER BRAVERMAN told Kommersant how the crisis prompted the authorities to merge the two structures, and due to which demand for housing stabilizes in September-October.

— Why was it necessary to merge the RHD Foundation and AHML into one structure?

This issue is long overdue, the crisis in the economy has accelerated the process. The fund has a land resource, but does not have sufficient funds to prepare required amount sites with engineering networks and all necessary infrastructure. AHML, with which we have been working closely from the very beginning, on the contrary, has financial resources. This was one of the main reasons for the creation of a new development institution in the housing sector. In fact, the merger should have a synergistic effect: the new development institution, on the one hand, will prepare for the development of state lands, and on the other hand, it will form mortgage programs to stimulate demand. It is possible that before the end of the current session, the State Duma deputies will approve the law on the merger of the RHD Foundation and AHML.

— How exactly did the crisis affect the RHD Foundation?

Despite the difficult situation, the fund is not a recipient of funds from the federal budget. We receive all funds from the sale of federally owned land plots. The fund throughout its existence (created in 2008. - Kommersant) directed most of the proceeds to taxes and infrastructure. According to the Accounts Chamber, which regularly checks us, in 2010-2011 we directed 41% of our revenue, which in those periods amounted to 4.54 billion rubles, to pay taxes and mandatory payments. Over the past few years, tax payments have accounted for approximately 52% of the fund's total cash receipts. By the way, the Accounts Chamber did not record any financial violations in the work of the fund.

At the same time, we must sell land prepared for development, which requires direct costs for engineering networks and social infrastructure. So, in total, the fund made decisions to provide land plots with engineering infrastructure in the amount of 4.66 billion rubles, which will provide networks for more than 80 sites, where it is planned to build more than 4 million square meters. m of housing. Of this amount, the fund has already financed 2.34 billion rubles. in the form of a fee for connecting these land plots to networks. Moreover, relatively recent legislative amendments placed on our fund the obligation to involve in the circulation of land, state property which are not delimited. These are also significant costs. But now, due to the crisis phenomena in the economy, land has ceased to bear its adequate value.

— What is the adequate value of the land in your case?

Exactly the same as given by the appraiser. Now the problem for us is the existing model of the developer's behavior. Having built the first stage of the residential complex, he cannot sell all the apartments, so he does not start building the second phase. Moreover, some developers are trying to transfer the proceeds from the sale of housing to other business areas, or put it on a bank deposit, earning some interest, or use other investment instruments.

Another category of developers is now investing free funds in the purchase of often discounted plots. They replenish their land bank with an eye to the future. On such operations, they can earn extra money in the future. But according to the terms of our fund, a developer who has received our site at an auction must build it up within the time frame and in the agreed volumes clearly specified in the auction documentation. Therefore, now the demand for our plots (even taking into account the fact that we help with connecting to networks) is not so high. According to our forecasts, according to the results of this year, the demand for sites from developers will increase by only 6-8%.

- But there are examples when developers are not satisfied with the starting price for some sites offered by the fund. Why don't you discount the value of these assets to an adequate level if there is demand?

By law, the initial price of land lots is determined by an independent appraiser. In this situation, we have no opportunity to take either a step to the left or a step to the right. At the beginning of June, we gathered evaluators and held a meeting where consolidated recommendations were developed.

For example, we are exploring the possibility of setting a starting price for plots based on a lower and upper cost limit, which was not the case before. It is also proposed to take into account current market offers for discounts and mortgage products when determining the sale price of built housing. This will enable a more flexible approach to pricing, which will be convenient for the developer. Another recommendation is to increase the exposure time of sites. Let's say, from the announcement of a land auction to its holding, we set a minimum period of one month. But during this period, in the current economic situation, developers do not have time to study all possible options plot development and get a loan.

— Did exchange rate fluctuations affect the growth of construction costs?

Developers were forced to think about import substitution of certain materials and equipment. This, of course, affected the cost reduction. But the change in the exchange rate of the ruble, no doubt, affected the contracts denominated in foreign currency. From this point of view, the building complex has a negative impact. But most of the building materials are produced domestically, so no significant increase in cost is observed. Moreover, the competition that has arisen due to current situation on the market, only helps to reduce costs.

— But exchange rate fluctuations have led to a decrease in consumer demand.

Yes, in the whole country, demand fell by an average of 20-25% - this is what we are faced with. But I think that the acute phase of the crisis has passed and the market is recovering. Because it was possible to keep mortgage lending rates at 12% due to state subsidies. It is clear that the market cannot immediately get out of this situation.

How long do you predict this will take?

Perhaps by the fall we will reach stable demand parameters.

- This will happen when the mortgage becomes available to a large number of buyers ...

After the authorities decided to subsidize mortgage rates, their cost was about 12% per annum, which in some regions is lower than before the crisis in the economy last year. In the next three years, the demand for housing is projected at 163 million square meters. m, of which 130 million sq. m - economy class apartments.

— All these years the RHD Foundation has been working with foreign companies— potential participants of your land auctions. Did political instability influence their decision to invest in Russian real estate?

Unfortunately, the activity of foreign investors in the Russian land market has decreased. But this is if we are talking about housing construction. If Russian developers do not really want to launch new construction projects in the absence of serious demand for housing in the primary market, what can we say about Western companies. On the other hand, those foreign investors who need development sites in Russia retail chains or businesses Catering, on the contrary, continue active searches.

Recently, there has been an interest of foreign companies in sites where it is possible to build enterprises for the production of building materials, which are needed not only for the construction of apartments, but also for other sectors where the impact of the crisis turned out to be insignificant. It is clear that foreign interests have changed in the current situation - if earlier most of the companies considering our sites were from Europe, now they are from Turkey and China.

- The RHD Foundation allocated land not only for housing construction, but also for enterprises for the production of building materials and the creation of separate clusters. Will this practice continue under the new structure?

Undoubtedly. Moreover, we have similar projects under development. For example, in Pushkin, which is part of St. Petersburg, it is planned to create an agro-industrial park, which should solve the issue of import substitution of agricultural products. This year it is planned to put up for auction 360 hectares for a future agricultural park. The concept of its creation is currently being developed, after which the document will have to be approved by the regional administration. In fact, clusters are being created at our sites, where the opening of new production capacity is synchronized with the construction of housing for workers.

- During the last crisis, the authorities were faced with the issue of single-industry towns created back in Soviet times. Will your clusters in the future give rise to the same single-industry towns, where the population has a minimum choice of employment with the maximum risk of losing a job?

When creating our clusters, a completely different approach is used. One big plant is not being built on our sites, providing work for the entire population in the district. Clusters will have industry diversification: such production lines can be re-profiled in the event of a crisis. For example, in the Novosibirsk region, on the lands of the RHD Foundation, two enterprises have been created - for the production of structures from autoclaved aerated concrete and lime. Plus, there are four projects at the same time at various stages of implementation to create production facilities for dry building mixtures and stone wool insulation. All of these materials are used in low-rise construction. At the same time, within the radius of logistical accessibility from the new cluster, the RHD Foundation allocated almost 870 hectares to developers at auctions, where a total of 2.9 million square meters are being built. m. Another 362 hectares are planned to be put up for auction. That is, the volumes of new construction make it possible to load new capacities for the production of building materials. In addition, clusters are not always single-industry towns that we are used to. For example, a nuclear innovation cluster is being created in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Region: in this city, we provided 76 hectares at an auction where the developer must sell housing at a fixed price, including for workers involved in the creation of a new scientific center.

- Initially, there was information that the Federal Fund for Assistance to the Reform of Housing and Utilities would also be included in the new agency. Why now this structure has dropped out of the created design?

I can assume that this is due to the fact that the fund has a period of existence: according to the law, it must be disbanded from January 1, 2018.

- Is the merger of the RHD Foundation and AHML connected with the need to push the implementation of the state program "Housing for the Russian family", which can stall just as similar targeted programs were previously adopted?

The state program has already started working. The regions began to select developers according to the rules of the program, that is, with the obligation of companies to build housing at fixed prices. As part of the state program, our fund provided developers with land plots where it is possible to build about 1 million square meters. m. The regions also began to allocate plots. This has already led to a change in some local markets, there has been a certain saturation of the market. In such regions, the problem arose with a shortage of plots prepared for development.

For example, in Tyumen, where on 98 hectares provided by the RHD Foundation, four microdistricts are being built at once for 955 thousand square meters. m of housing, of which 820 thousand square meters. m have already been put into operation. In Primorsky Krai, 12 projects are being implemented on the lands of the fund: we have allocated more than 750 hectares in the region, where the total area of ​​housing being designed and under construction is 1.83 million square meters. m, of which 1.42 million sq. m is the economy class. In addition, we are now preparing auctions for the provision of more than 1.17 thousand hectares in the Volgograd, Kursk, Penza, Rostov regions for the construction of economy-class housing under the state program.

- By creating the Housing Development Agency, the authorities are consolidating three resources at once in one hand - finance, land and sources of connection to engineering networks. It turns out that the state monopolizes the construction market?

I have a counter question. Why is it for the state?

“This is a market where a lot of money is circulating. For example, over the past three years, the volume of all construction works across the country, according to Rosstat, is close to 6 trillion rubles.

But any construction project means not only revenues and profits, but also obligations to co-investors when it comes to housing construction. As for the agency being created, it will not be engaged in construction, but will continue to create conditions so that the developer can build housing on state-owned lands with minimal costs - in fact, this is what our foundation was doing. Moreover, a competitive environment has now been formed on the land market: not only does our fund offer land plots to developers (and later it will be a new structure being created), but also regional authorities. Banks are also selling off building sites that they got on defaulted loans. What kind of monopoly is this?

Another thing is that the speed of project implementation at our sites is twice as high as in other areas. First of all, due to the fact that we provide connection to engineering networks. For example, the average project implementation period from the date of signing the lease agreement to the commissioning of the first stage of development on sites provided by the RHD Foundation is 2.6 years, while on other sites it is almost five years. Such a situation, on the contrary, should encourage competition, since in our country there are private owners of land, and even large land developers, who are not hindered by anyone from "packing" their plots with infrastructure in a way that would be interesting to potential buyers. If the state would need it, then the authorities would have crushed the housing market long ago. This could have been done when our foundation was created. It was enough to endow the RHD Foundation with the functions of an investor-developer.

- The new agency has not yet been created, but it is already known that it will be headed by Alexander Plutnik, a former assistant to Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, ex-deputy head of the Ministry of Construction, and now the general director of AHML. Why Mr. Plutnik is considered on new position and not you?

The financial component will dominate in the new development institute created on the basis of AHML and our fund. That is, in the current conditions, the key factor is not the building site itself (even if it is provided with all the necessary infrastructure), but the stimulation of demand, followed by supply. I am not an expert in mortgage securities and mortgage lending, so I cannot give qualified guidance on this matter.

In addition, Alexander (Plutnik. - Kommersant) knows how the work of the RHD Foundation is structured. He worked with the presidential commission for the development of the affordable housing market, which, among other things, developed proposals for the creation of the RHD Foundation. And in Last year As a Deputy Minister, he plunged into the work of AHML.

- Will you stay in the new structure?

- How reliable is the information that you can head a new agency to promote small and medium-sized businesses?

I don't do self-appointments. As far as I know, there is no such agency yet. Now a group of experts has been assembled under the Ministry of Economy, which should develop mechanisms to support small and medium-sized businesses. I am an ordinary member of this group. According to experts, if the problem with the development of small and medium-sized businesses is not resolved in the rest of the current political cycle, then the prospects for the Russian economy may not be the best. For example, in construction industry, according to various estimates, 90% of the work falls on the share of small and medium-sized businesses. Small and medium-sized businesses in this industry still do not have optimal conditions for work.

What kind of perks could these be?

For example, it is necessary to admit small developers to contracts distributed under the state order, while the quality and safety of construction must be unconditionally ensured; make debt financing available to small companies. There should be a "single window" of support for such entrepreneurs. By and large, these are not even benefits at all, but instruments that have been operating in other countries for a long time.