From October 1, new instruments of state financial support for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) will be launched in Belarus.
This was reported by the head of the Department of Entrepreneurship of the Ministry of Economy, Olga Rusinovich.
What SME support tools will be in effect from October 1
As Rusinovich said in an interview with the First Information TV channel, the first instrument is grants (money on a gratuitous basis).
They will be allocated by executive committees. The criteria and procedure for providing grants are currently being approved.
Entrepreneurs will also have the opportunity to use guarantees from the Belarusian Fund for Financial Support of Entrepreneurs (BFFSE).
In addition, entrepreneurs will be partially reimbursed from the budget for capital expenditures on the implementation of investment projects financed using a loan from the Development Bank. The BFFPP will also be the manager of these funds.
The representative of the Ministry of Economy reminded that the lists of types of activities for the self-employed and individual entrepreneurs will also come into force on October 1.
According to her, individual entrepreneurs whose activities are not included in the list can continue to work in this status until January 1, 2026.
Rusinovich also spoke about incentives for scaling up a business. The first is the so-called seamless transition. This means that to become a legal entity, it is enough to submit a package of documents to the registration authority. The day of registration of the legal entity will also be the date of liquidation of the individual entrepreneur.
Any individual entrepreneur can use the simplified procedure, regardless of whether their type of activity is included in the list or not.
The second incentive is that the business conditions for legal entities with no more than 50 employees will be equal to those currently in effect for micro-organizations and individual entrepreneurs.
