Titov: two-thirds of companies that survived the first wave of the epidemic will not survive in the second

“We conducted the last opinion poll two weeks ago. Then two-thirds of the companies surveyed said they would not survive the new restrictions”, - he said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy.

According to the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs, 60% of companies have already suffered from coronavirus restrictions, which have significantly reduced revenue. “Large companies are still closed in 18 regions of the country. We are working to ensure that these enterprises receive compensation, since the restrictions were imposed for two months, and in fact the enterprises have been closed for six months already”, - he added.

Titov believes that business support measures need to be extended. Earlier, he had already warned that the Russian economy could face massive bankruptcy of enterprises that received soft loans from the state at 2% per annum. At the time of issuance of these loans, not updated data of the Pension Fund on the number of employees were taken into account. As a result, most of the entrepreneurs who received such soft loans will be forced to return the money at the full interest rate, which will be disastrous for business. Titov warns of the risk of further contraction in economic activity and asks for an extension of the direct subsidies program for small businesses until next March.

Earlier, the head of the Accounts Chamber, Alexei Kudrin, said that a new wave of the epidemic requires new measures to support business and the population. According to him, since the beginning of the year, the number of the poor in the country has exceeded 20 million. Kudrin is confident that the country has the means to support the population, if the funds of the National Welfare Fund are used. At the end of last year, this fund was replenished by three trillion rubles.