"It will be possible to file not only for bankruptcy, but also for rehabilitation"

Maxim Kolesnikov, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development, spoke in an exclusive interview with Izvestia on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) about plans to reform legislation on bankruptcy of legal entities with an emphasis on business support and rehabilitation, and not just liquidation. He shared the results and plans for the development of special administrative regions (SAR) in the Kaliningrad Region and Primorsky Krai, noting the steady growth in the number of residents and measures to increase the investment attractiveness of these territories.

"To review the bankruptcy procedure and make it rehabilitating business"

— In February, Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development, said that after a three-year hiatus, the agency resumed work on amendments in the field of bankruptcy of legal entities. What is currently being discussed and what adjustments are there?

— During this time, there have been quite a lot of changes in our economy, and additional statistics have appeared, additional data on what is happening in bankruptcy. Unfortunately, we see that the vast majority of procedures that go into bankruptcy are liquidation procedures.

We want to conceptually revise the philosophy of this law and make it rehabilitating business. In order for the business to have specific mechanisms for its rehabilitation, for maintaining business and continuing work.

Of course, this is becoming especially important in the current conditions.

First of all, we are considering the reorganization of the rehabilitation procedure, in which there will be maximum flexibility for the parties: for both the creditors and the debtor. We assume that it will be possible to file not only a bankruptcy petition, but also applications for rehabilitation. This is an important conceptual step in filing for bankruptcy and rehabilitation proceedings against the company. We are significantly fine-tuning the interaction between the self-regulatory organization and the arbitration managers.

We have an agreement with our colleagues that, on the one hand, we are increasing their compensation level, because it has not really been indexed for about 10 years. On the other hand, colleagues have additional responsibilities. There will definitely be a principle of independence in the choice of arbitration managers. This will be such an important step in the development of the bankruptcy institute.

"We have expanded the out-of-court bankruptcy procedure for special operation participants"

— Are there any risks due to the acceleration of the bankruptcy rate of citizens? For example, in the first quarter of this year, over 120 judicial bankruptcies of citizens started, which is a third more than the same period of the previous year. Also, in the first quarter of this year, more than 15.5 thousand extrajudicial procedures were initiated, which is a quarter more. Are there any changes required in the bankruptcy procedure not only for legal entities, but also for citizens?

— These statistics show that legislation is developing. Since November 23, the out-of-court procedure has become available to pensioners and citizens receiving child benefits, as well as to all citizens who have been unable to pay off debts for more than seven years. This gave such an incentive, and significantly expanded the category of persons who use this out-of-court bankruptcy procedure. We believe that it is the right of every citizen who finds himself in a difficult life situation to take advantage of this option, so the mechanism works.

We have expanded it relatively recently, including for participants in a special military operation, so we will continue to actively develop it and monitor how it lives in our economy.

"We constantly explain to citizens about their rights"

— But do you see risks in the very fact of such an acceleration in the rate of bankruptcy of citizens?

— No, it's really just a cultural enhancement. An entrepreneurial understanding of one's rights means one's powers, because we constantly explain to citizens about their rights. Therefore, I think there is nothing in this, on the contrary, it indicates the level of qualifications of our individuals.

"To share risks between the state and the private party"

— Public private partnership is a rather important mechanism. Both business and government invest in projects together. And what major projects have already been implemented this year or are still planned to be implemented by the end of the year?

— Already this year, two major road concessions have been signed with a total volume of about 180 billion (rubles. — Editor's note). In addition, a federal concession has been signed for the airport in the city of Gorno-Altaysk. That is, the mechanism is in demand even in such difficult conditions of monetary policy.

Last year, it was generally a record, taking into account the structuring of the Moscow—St. Petersburg high-speed highway deal, worth 1.8 trillion rubles. Indeed, we consider this mechanism to be extremely effective, because it allows us to share risks between the state and the private party. At the same time, it is not easy to divide them within the framework of a three—year budget cycle, but for the entire duration of the project, both at the investment stage and at the operational stage.

Important legislative changes have been made over the past year. We have expanded the draft law to include PPP (public-private partnership. — Ed.) in industry, essentially allowing businesses on their land plots to structure transactions in the PPP format.

This makes it possible for large capital-intensive projects to be implemented jointly with the government in our economy. An important condition is that the share of government leverage does not exceed 50% of the total cost of the project. Otherwise, the meaning of a private partner is already lost. Yes, the project is becoming a state-owned one, but now large projects are being structured. One is a project in the field of mechanical engineering, the second is a project in the field of private satellites of orbital groupings. We believe that this mechanism will show itself again.

"About 200 companies register in SARI every year"

— How much investment has been attracted to SARI this year, and how many have moved to SARI in the Kaliningrad Region and Primorsky Krai this year?

— By 2024, the volume of investments amounted to 26.5 billion rubles. In total, 190 participants moved to the territory of SAROV, 141 of them are residents of SAR on Oktyabrsky Island. Compared to the 23rd year, the trend remained virtually unchanged, that is, 200 participants were registered in the 23rd year, and 190 in the 24th. But the number of them continues to grow, we have about 510 residents in total, of which 505 have the status of an international company.

— The dynamics are not quite, let's say, rapid...

— Stable. About 200 companies register in SARI every year.

— Is it necessary to finalize legislation in order to further increase the investment attractiveness of Sarov?

— We are constantly modernizing our legislation. So, we have implemented a simplified relocation procedure until December 31 of this year. We have reduced by 10 times the minimum amount of property that is contributed to the international personal fund to 500 million, previously it was 5 billion.

We have expanded the mechanism for extending the period of exclusion of international companies from foreign registries, because we also understand that on the other side, our international companies face certain difficulties in processing all documents. At the moment, a number of other legislative initiatives are also being worked out in the State Duma.