Approximately 200 thousand people may lose their jobs in Moscow due to the suspension and cessation of activities of foreign companies, reported Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. He said last week authorities approved the Program to support workers at risk of layoff. 3.36 billion rubles will be allocated for its implementation.
According to the mayor, the program is designed to make it as easy as possible to transfer workers at risk of dismissal from their old jobs to their new ones.
Sobyanin noted that “quite a lot of time elapsed” between the announcement of the company’s suspension and its actual closure, so employees could be subject to forced cuts for several months.
“In this case, we propose to organize temporary work – archiving, repairs of existing equipment and similar activities, performing which employees will receive additional income,” Sobyanin wrote on his blog.
In addition, public works are organized for dismissed employees. Such an opportunity will be provided by the Healthy Moscow summer pavilions, My Documents public service centers, as well as parks and other organizations in Moscow.
Sobyanin also promised that enterprises with large numbers of workers will be able to receive budget subsidies for the adaptation of workers to new jobs.
The new program is planned to help employ more than 58 thousand employees of organizations that have suspended their activities.
According to the mayor, about 12.5 thousand workers will be retrained and about 39 thousand will be employed in temporary and public works.
Capital entrepreneurs’ initiatives
Business Protection City Center received more than 500 proposals from Moscow entrepreneurs on measures to reduce the negative impact of sanctions.
In particular, initiatives relate to improving legislation and new support measures. According to Moscow Deputy Mayor Natalya Sergunina, some of them have been studied and approved, the rest are under evaluation.
“For example, the capital changed the rules for the dismantling of summer verandas, simplified the redevelopment of non-residential buildings and provided assistance in pilot testing for IT companies. We analyze all the initiatives of the business world.”
Alexei Fursin, head of the Moscow Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development, said that the headquarters specialists are constantly working to improve the conditions for doing business in Moscow.
“During the era of sanctions, they advise entrepreneurs in an advanced mode. Anyone can apply for support.
Support to citizens and businesses
Sobyanin also said that the authorities have approved a new procedure for assigning and paying monthly allowances to children of needy families. Thus, a single benefit amount is determined for children under the age of 18, which is based solely on family income. Social assistance will be provided to families whose average per capita income does not exceed the subsistence level determined in Moscow.
To support small and medium businesses, authorities have approved a new preferential online loan program. According to the mayor, a final 13.5 percent online loan for any purpose will be available to small and medium-sized businesses operating in any sector of the economy. At the same time, the maximum loan amount will be 5 million rubles, and the period for subsidizing the interest rate will be 9 months.
Western countries began to impose large-scale sanctions on Moscow, and after the start of military operations in Ukraine, foreign companies stopped their activities in Russia and started to announce that they were withdrawing from the Russian market. On March 18, Sergei Sobyanin reported that about 300 foreign companies have suspended their work in Moscow.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.