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Russia's SME sector shows growth amid external pressures, says Deputy PM Novak

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reported continued growth in the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, with the number of entities reaching 7 million and employment surpassing 19 million. He also announced a new lending program set to launch in July, alongside existing concessional investment loans for priority sectors.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage May 25, 2026 Published Aug 13

Lead

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on May 25 that the country's small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector continues to expand despite external restrictions and challenging market conditions. Speaking at an operational meeting with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Novak cited figures showing the number of SME entities has reached 7 million and employment in the sector has exceeded 19 million, according to reports from the Russian state news agency TASS.

Coverage Comparison

Two separate TASS reports covered Novak's remarks, each focusing on different aspects of his announcement. The first highlighted the overall growth trend and government support measures, while the second detailed a new lending program scheduled for launch in July. Both reports relied exclusively on Novak's statements and did not include independent analysis or comments from other sources.

Key Claims

SME sector growth metrics: Novak reported that as of May 1, 1.5 million new legal entities and individual entrepreneurs had been registered, a 4.2% increase compared to the same period last year. He also stated that more than 5 million entrepreneurs have received support under the national project for small and medium-sized entrepreneurship.

Support for payment delays: The deputy prime minister said the government is helping small businesses address delays in payments from large companies. According to Novak, a task force involving the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the SME Corporation has helped recover about 60% of disputed debts owed to small businesses out of court since the beginning of the year.

New lending program: Novak announced that a new lending program for SMEs will launch in July with a limit of up to 150 billion rubles (approximately $2.09 billion) at an interest rate equal to the key rate. This program is intended for current operational purposes and will be implemented together with banks and the SME Corporation.

Existing investment loans: Novak also referenced a previously introduced program of concessional turnkey investment loans at a rate 3.5 percentage points below standard terms. He said these loans target priority sectors including manufacturing, the hotel business, information technology, scientific and technical activities, and creative industries.

Perspectives

Novak framed SMEs as "a driver of structural changes in the economy" and emphasized the importance of targeted support measures. He stressed that the government remains in constant dialogue with entrepreneurs and continuously adjusts support measures based on business needs. The reports did not include perspectives from business associations, economists, or other government agencies.

As reported by TASS, these figures and program details come solely from Novak's official statements and have not been independently verified. The effectiveness of the support measures and the broader impact on the SME sector will depend on implementation and market conditions.

How this outlet told it

TASS — English as of May 25, 2026, 8:31 AM UTC

Framing: SME growth despite challenges — Positive

Facts Included:

The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continues to grow despite external restrictions and difficult market conditions
The number of SME entities has reached 7 million
The number of people employed in the SME sector has exceeded 19 million
1.5 million new legal entities and individual entrepreneurs have been registered as of May 1
More than 5 million entrepreneurs have received support during the national project for SMEs
The government is helping small businesses address delayed payments by large companies

Read the source article →

TASS — English as of May 25, 2026, 11:31 AM UTC

Framing: New lending program for SMEs — Informative

Facts Included:

A new lending program for SMEs will be launched in July with a limit of up to 150 billion rubles
The interest rate for the new lending program will be equal to the key rate
Concessional turnkey investment loans at minus 3.5% have been introduced for SMEs in priority sectors
The new lending program is for current operational purposes

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimThe number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continues to grow despite external restrictions and difficult market conditions. The number of SME entities has reached 7 million and the number of people employed in the sector has exceeded 19 million.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of May 25, 2026, 8:31 AM UTC
Claim1.5 million new legal entities and individual entrepreneurs have been registered as of May 1, which is 4.2% higher than during the same period last year.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of May 25, 2026, 8:31 AM UTC
ClaimMore than 5 million entrepreneurs have received support during the national project for SMEs.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of May 25, 2026, 8:31 AM UTC
ClaimThe government is helping small businesses address delayed payments by large companies.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of May 25, 2026, 8:31 AM UTC
ClaimA new lending program for SMEs will be launched in July with a limit of up to 150 billion rubles and an interest rate equal to the key rate.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of May 25, 2026, 11:31 AM UTC
ClaimConcessional turnkey investment loans at minus 3.5% have been introduced for SMEs in priority sectors such as manufacturing, the hotel business, information technology, scientific and technical activities, and creative industries.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of May 25, 2026, 11:31 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 2 articles consulted: TASS — English 6 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-13