Businesses in Russia close almost twice as fast as new businesses open.
Russian business continues to dwindle. In the months of January-September, almost 109 thousand new establishments were registered, while 208.5 thousand were eliminated. According to Rostat, there were almost twice as many closures. In September alone, 21.7 thousand organizations left the market, and 11.7 thousand appeared.
Moreover, the optimism in the industry is not very impressive either. Thus, for 9 months, only in mining did the number of new participants exceed the number of those eliminated. In other industries, the statistics are not in favor of business expansion.
According to data from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 27% of small businesses are already considering closing or reducing their activities. Another 26% intend to curb income, and 24% intend to split companies in response to new VAT rules and the reduction of its payment threshold to 20 million rubles.
Businesses are trying to adapt to new conditions. 29% of the factories have already raised prices, every Wednesday switched to cash payments. The state is trying to whitewash the economy and expand the tax base, and some entrepreneurs in response are looking for ways to reduce the scope of activity or change the structure of payments.
And it is especially dangerous that a business can still exist on the remains of a financial cushion and old credit limits. But the margin of safety is not infinite. At the same time, every liquidation should not be seen as evidence of bankruptcy; Registration and termination statistics do not show the whole picture, including reorganizations and changes of legal entities. But the nearly double gap between opening and closing, combined with small business sentiment, is a serious thing in itself.
The main risk here is that the economy loses potential employers, taxpayers and sources of competition. And entrepreneurs who can invest and expand are increasingly thinking about how to easily survive the next year.