Putin Orders Measures to Support Small, Medium Enterprises Amid COVID-19 Pandemic by Monday

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday instructed the government to take a set of urgent measures to support small and medium enterprises in Russia amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as follows from documents published on the Kremlin website.

In particular, Putin ordered to ensure by Monday that Russia's small- and medium-sized businesses can postpone all tax payments except VAT for the next six months.

"To postpone for six months the terms of payment of taxes and advance payments (except for VAT), including the terms of payment of taxes provided for by special tax regimes for taxpayers classified as small- and medium-sized businesses and operating in the industries defined in accordance with sub-item 'b' of item 1 of this list of instructions (most affected ones, including by the spread of the new coronavirus infection)", the instruction said.

Likewise, the president ordered the reduction to 15 percent of insurance contributions to social funds from salaries of employees of small and medium-sized businesses that exceed the level of a minimum wage.

Microenterprises — businesses with less than 15 employees and revenue up to $1.5 million — affected by the coronavirus pandemic will be able to get a six-month delay in payments of insurance contributions to social funds, according to the order.

The number of patients infected with COVID-19 in Russia has increased by 270 people over the past 24 hours, the country's operational headquarters for preventing the spread of coronavirus said in a statement on Sunday. The total tally of COVID-19 patients in Russia now stands at 1,534.