Anna Bezdudnaya at BRICS Horizons: Grants, Tax Incentives, and Access to New Markets
On June 23, 2026, a round table titled "Priority Areas of State Support for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses" was held at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation as part of the annual international forum "BRICS Horizons." Anna Bezdudnaya, Director General of the FBA EAC and Editor-in-Chief of the FBA EAC Herald magazine, delivered a report on behalf of the Association's President Li Shuobing, presenting a comprehensive analysis of the existing SME support mechanisms. The FBA EAC's participation in the BRICS Horizons forum is part of the association's systematic work to analyze and improve entrepreneurship support tools across the EAEU and in BRICS countries.
In her speech, Anna Bezdudnaya focused on three key areas: grant financing, tax incentives, and export support.
In the grants segment, she examined in detail the programs of the Foundation for the Promotion of Innovation. Special attention was given to the "Commercialization" program, where the condition for receiving a grant is 100% co-financing by the applicant. In practice, this means that for a 25 million ruble grant, the total project budget must be at least 50 million. For university startups without significant initial investments, only the "Start" program (up to 8 million rubles, with 15% co-financing) and youth grants (up to 1 million) are realistically accessible. Bezdudnaya noted that the grant system demonstrates the so-called "Matthew effect": resources are concentrated among companies that already possess substantial financial assets.
Speaking about tax incentives, Bezdudnaya noted that reduced rates apply to accredited IT companies: corporate income tax at 5%, insurance contributions at 7.6%, and 0% VAT on software sales. The key condition is that at least 70% of revenues must come from IT activities. According to her, this criterion creates difficulties for diversified companies that combine software development with consulting or implementation services.
Export support was presented through EXIAR instruments—specifically, the "Deferred Payment for SMEs" product, which features a fixed insurance premium of 30,000 rubles and a compensation limit of up to 70% of the loss. Bezdudnaya cited data for 2024: the volume of insured SME deliveries amounted to 1.5 billion rubles, and the "supported export volume per 1 ruble of subsidy" indicator reached 70.5 rubles.
A separate segment was dedicated to the institutional export infrastructure: as of 2026, there are 82 export support centers operating in Russia with a combined budget of 1.5 billion rubles.
In conclusion, Anna Bezdudnaya touched upon the topic of accessing BRICS markets. According to her assessment, the existing export support mechanisms are effective for the EAEU and "friendly" markets with low transaction costs. However, working with India, Brazil, or China requires additional institutional frameworks—in particular, the harmonization of technical regulations and instruments for guaranteeing currency risks. Bezdudnaya reminded the audience that the key platform for forging bilateral agreements on SME support will be the VIII BRICS Interregional Forum, which will take place in St. Petersburg from November 19 to 21, 2026.