60% of Russian entrepreneurs were unable to pay the rent in time

This follows from the results of a survey conducted by the NAFI analytical center in April 2020.

According to the study, 60% of entrepreneurs who rent premises have already delayed rental payments. 35% expect difficulties in paying rent. At the same time, individual entrepreneurs more often than legal entities claim a lack of funds for such payments - 73% versus 57% .

The results of the study say that most delinquencies were in the share of enterprises that use rented areas for production - 69% . Those companies that rent office space experience such difficulties less often - 48% . 6% of them admitted that the coronavirus pandemic did not affect them. Whereas among those who need rented space to organize production, only 3% did not notice the impact of the pandemic.

The majority of entrepreneurs - 85% - discussed the possibility of revising contracts with landlords. At the same time, 28% have already been refused. 13% of respondents made concessions on rental payments. 44% of respondents are still negotiating.

According to the head of the research direction in the field of construction and real estate at NAFI, Olga Sokolova noted that the issue of deferring rents turned out to be the most relevant during the pandemic.

- The introduction of long-term quarantine in the country raised the question of deferring or canceling rent payments for tenant entrepreneurs. Both small and medium-sized businesses are suffering, but it is difficult for most companies to terminate or amend a lease today: many cannot use the clause on force majeure, she said.

Sokolova also added that landlords today took a wait and see attitude.

“An obvious strategy for maintaining stability is an open dialogue between tenants and landlords in order to agree on conditions suitable for both parties,” the expert said.

Restaurateur Alexander Zatulivertov noted that even with concessions from landlords, payments can become an unbearable burden for businessmen in today's situation.

- Lease payments - despite the nobility of the landlords who went to the meeting and reduced them by 50-70%, you still have to pay (and this is 500 thousand a month, with full downtime). In relations with suppliers, debt is beginning to accumulate (...) Today we are approaching 3 million rubles of debt, next week a new rental month begins. By July, I think, it will accumulate under 5 million if we survive , ” said the restaurateur.