OREANDA-NEWS. In St Petersburg today, small and medium-sized businesses are some of the most important contributors to the economy, accounting for about 30% of all payments into the city’s coffers.

 This was announced by the Governor of St Petersburg, Georgy Poltavchenko, as he welcomed participants to the 12th St Petersburg Small Scale Business Forum. “Given the need for import substitution, it is small and medium-sized businesses which are able to use their technological mobility to produce goods with high added value. In order to encourage this work, the Government of St Petersburg has today signed an agreement with the Agency for Credit Guarantees, a non-banking deposit and credit organisation, with the aim of making loan resources more accessible to our entrepreneurs”, he noted.

In addition, as part of the exhibition programme, Mr Poltavchenko familiarised himself with the services of over 250 small and medium-sized businesses from 18 districts of St Petersburg. There was particular interest in the business platform, where participants were able to consult with representatives of state unitary enterprises looking to collaborate with small businesses.