The first stage of their joint project will be disseminating a digital solution for business support

Deputy Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Andrey Sanosyan and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan Midhat Shagiakhmetov signed an agreement on cooperation in sharing experience in using an online platform for comprehensive and operational support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2021).

The Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Gleb Nikitin has earlier announced the results of the National Rating of the Investment Climate of the constituents of the Russian Federation and announced plans to use the platform of FASTTRACK.RF (ФАСТТРЕК.РФ website) as the basis to develop a business portal in the region.

"In the future, we plan to create an online portal for comprehensive and operational support for SMEs. For the Nizhny Novgorod Region, we will rely on the FASTTRACK.RF which is already being used by the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan," said Gleb Nikitin.

According to Andrey Sanosyan, the first stage of their joint project will be disseminating a digital solution for business support.

The new online portal, which is planned to be created for entrepreneurs in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, will be based on the functionality of FASTTRACK.RF established in the Republic of Tatarstan and, according to the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), is the best practice published on Smarteka.

"The online platform has proved to be an effective tool for reducing the time required to provide government support to small and medium-sized businesses. Unique in Russia, this solution was developed and launched in 2019. The portal makes communications between business and the government interactive and saves a lot of time and effort on receiving services and support and completely eliminates queues," Andrei Sanosyan said.

According to the Government of Tatarstan, FASTTRACK.RF has made it possible to remove red tape barriers in the republic in the interaction of business on the proposed measures of financial and non-financial support. Full financial support is available in "one click". The region promotes the implementation of the development in neighboring regions of the Russian Federation and is also ready to adopt relevant practices, the exchange of which contributes to strengthening partnership relations and creating homogeneous conditions for business development across Russia.

The period for obtaining business financial support, from application to crediting money to the entrepreneur's current account, through the FASTTRACK.RF has reduced to a few hours. Previously, obtaining a microloan could take up to 1 month. The digital service in Tatarstan ensured the seamless provision of public services during the restrictive measures caused by the pandemic, while excluding face-to-face contacts between the parties. In 2020, 90% of microfinance requests totaling RUB 1 billion were issued online through FASTTREK.RF in Tatarstan.

"The Nizhny Novgorod Region has applied online tools to communicate with businesses. In 2020, new branches of the My Business center were opened in 31 municipalities within under the national project "Small and Medium-sized Entrepreneurship and Support for Individual Entrepreneurial Initiative". This is the first instance to which Nizhny Novgorod residents should apply to settle any business issues. The centers became particularly relevant during the pandemic. Based on the one-stop shop principle, they provided advice services to entrepreneurs and offered comprehensive proposals on support measures operating in the region," Andrei Sanosyan added.

Besides, during the difficult epidemiological situation, new advisory service formats were introduced for business, including Viber and Telegram channels.

"The introduction of a single online platform will make it easier for business to communicate with the government authorities. Ultimately, this will improve the business environment in the Nizhny Novgorod Region," Andrei Sanosyan said.

The new online platform will allow business persons who plan to receive government support to send electronic applications and the required documents and track the progress online. The approval progress will be displayed in the personal account on the portal. The electronic approval procedure will eliminate the inconveniences associated with the need to make an appointment for a face-to-face meeting with government servants. Besides, the applicant will be able to quickly supplement the package of documents or adjust the request.

The Nizhny Novgorod Region was rated the sixth in Top-10 regions in the national rating of the ASI's investment climate of the constituents of the Russian Federation. President Vladimir Putin, speaking at SPIEF-2021, mentioned the Nizhny Novgorod Region among the best, which demonstrated high growth in the rating of the current year. Since 2018, the Nizhny Novgorod Region has risen by 64 positions. In 2020, the region ranked 18th in the rating.

Smarteka is a platform created by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) to share sustainable development practices. The key task of Smarteka is to simplify the search and exchange of practices for the social and economic development of territories. The Smarteka practices mean all implemented solutions to socially and economically significant tasks that have measurable results and replication potential. Smarteka focuses on improving living conditions in Russia's regions, brings together change leaders and effective practices.

Information from the pravda-nn website