Alexander Murychev met with industrialists and entrepreneurs of the Kaliningrad region
On June 19, 2025, Kaliningrad hosted the annual meeting of industrialists and entrepreneurs of the region, at which Alexander Murychev, Chairman of the FBA EAC Board, Vice-President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, delivered a key report.
In his speech, Alexander Murychev focused on current economic challenges and measures taken by business and the state to overcome them. He noted that by the end of 2024, Russia’s GDP grew by 4.1%, exceeding 200 trillion rubles for the first time. Industries such as information technology and communications, the hotel and restaurant business, wholesale and retail trade, as well as manufacturing have made a significant contribution to this growth.
At the same time, Mr. Murychev stressed that in the context of tight monetary policy and ongoing economic uncertainty, many enterprises are experiencing difficulties with long-term financial planning. The implementation of investment projects is difficult: “Many of the investment projects that were at the launch stage are now frozen, and in the current situation only projects at the final stage can be completed. This is especially true for high-tech industries, where significant resource support is needed,” he said.
Special attention was paid to the problem of non-payments in the economy and insufficient availability of debt financing. According to Alexander Murychev, by the end of 2024, problems with working capital had worsened, accounts receivable and accounts payable are still increasing, and the number of cases of non-payment between counterparties are growing.
He named the auto industry as one of the most affected industries: declining purchasing power and high rates led to a sharp drop in sales and accumulation of stocks in warehouses, especially in the segment of special equipment.
In this regard, at the Financial Forum of the Russian Business Week and the RSPP Congress held in February this year, specific proposals were developed aimed at stabilizing the financial situation of enterprises, including:
- implementation of a comprehensive monitoring of the non-payment situation;
- stimulating timely payments under contracts;
- measures for debt repayment from state corporations;
- prepayment of up to 75% for public procurement;
- targeted loan subsidy measures for enterprises in a pre-default state.
At the same time, the banking system is showing steady dynamics: The assets of the banking sector reached 195.3 trillion rubles, loans to legal entities increased by 48%, and the net profit of banks in 2024 amounted to 4 trillion rubles. However, as Mr. Murychev noted, there is an imbalance: “There is a paradoxical situation in which excessive resources have accumulated in the banking system, and algorithms to transfer them to the economy have not yet been found. But we need to find them, otherwise we will enter into a long-term investment stagnation, from which we will take a very long time to exit,” he stressed.
The event was attended by representatives of more than 60 industrial enterprises of the region, Sergey Bulychev, Acting Governor of the Kaliningrad region, as well as Andrey Romanov, President of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of the Kaliningrad region, who presented a report on the results of activities for the year of 2024.
The meeting has become an important platform for an open discussion of current issues and the search for solutions aimed at supporting industry and entrepreneurship in the current economic realities.