Payment and capacity: Business credit holidays will start operating in 2026
Small and medium-sized companies will be able to apply for credit holidays from 2026, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, told Izvestia. This is an opportunity for businesses to take a break in loan payments for up to six months without worsening their credit history. Now, for example, citizens have a similar option for mortgages and consumer loans. The measure was announced by the president at the beginning of 2024, but it still cannot be approved until the document has passed only the first reading. The stumbling block is whether to extend the benefit to the self-employed. At the same time, right now, when high rates are being maintained in the economy, such support is especially needed by companies.
What are business credit holidays?
Small companies will be able to use the loan vacation mechanism starting in 2026. This was stated to Izvestia by Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the financial market.
This mechanism was announced by President Vladimir Putin in his address to the Federal Assembly in February 2024. He proposed to grant small businesses the right to take vacations every five years to pay off loans for up to six months without worsening their credit history.
Later, the Kremlin's website published an order with a deadline of June 1, 2024. However, a group of deputies (including Anatoly Aksakov) submitted a bill on credit holidays for small and medium-sized businesses to the State Duma only on July 30, and it passed its first reading only at the end of March 2025. After acceptance, the document will enter into force in 180 days.
At the same time, they want to issue a grace period simply at the request of the borrower, they will not impose special requirements on him, for example, to reduce revenue. It is assumed that at this time, interest will be accrued at the rate stipulated by the agreement. However, if the key value changes by more than 50% of the value in the document, then interest will be charged in the amount of the key + 1 percentage point, the Central Bank explained earlier. At the end of the holidays, interest will be accrued at the rate stipulated in the contract.
The maximum loan amount for which it is planned to provide a grace period for microenterprises will be 60 million rubles, for small companies — 400 million, for medium— 1 billion, and for the self—employed - 10 million, the bill says.
Will the self-employed be able to get credit holidays
Now the document mentions the self-employed, while initially there was no task to extend credit holidays to self-employed people, Anatoly Aksakov reminded Izvestia. He noted that professional income tax payers can already use the mechanism as individuals if there are any prerequisites for this, such as a deterioration in their financial situation or due to illness.
A similar mechanism of credit holidays in Russia is valid for citizens. A customer with a consumer loan or mortgage can apply for a deferral once if he has suffered in an emergency, and once more if his income has decreased by more than 30% in the last two months.
Anatoly Aksakov admitted that the self-employed may be excluded from the bill on business credit holidays by the second reading.
— I suggested taking a close look — I assume that such a rule will disappear by the second reading, but this is not a guarantee. A separate provision of holidays for the self—employed will be discussed," the deputy said.
The admission of this category to business credit holidays may be one of the main cornerstones in the adoption of the bill, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. On the one hand, the role of self—employed people in the economy has now grown significantly - there are already more than 12 million of them, said independent expert Andrei Barkhota. This is primarily due to the relatively small fiscal burden in this segment.
However, the self—employed are not exactly a business, they are not sole proprietors, Pavel Samiev, a member of the presidium of Opora Russia, chairman of the Financial Markets Committee, pointed out. He added: the very support and regulation of such people should be different — these are fundamentally different categories.
Nevertheless, the self—employed are also involved in the production process - they create goods or provide services, Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global, pointed out. However, sometimes they have accounting periods when there is no income at all, for example, at certain times of the year. In this case, there is a risk that the self-employed will begin to apply for loans en masse and ask to take a "break" for them, Natalia Milchakova believes.
Why do we need credit holidays for SMEs?
Credit holidays are especially in demand by businesses now, in conditions of high interest rates in the economy. At the beginning of 2024, when the president announced the support measure, the key figure was 16%, and in recent months it has been at a record high of 21%.
The first signals of a deterioration in the credit quality of borrowers among small and medium-sized businesses appeared in the second quarter of 2024, Andrei Barkhota noted. And according to the Central Bank, as of February 1, 2025, the share of legal entities and sole proprietors with overdue loans has increased sharply to almost 700 thousand enterprises (now every fifth business does not pay on loans). In these circumstances, the opportunity to receive deferred payments is especially important for businesses.
At the same time, as Izvestia previously reported, the key rate should be reduced to at least 17-18% by the end of the year. However, even then the support measure will still be relevant. Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Energy.
SMEs will be able to quickly restore their solvency thanks to the loan holidays, Pavel Samiev from Opora Russia emphasized. Such a mechanism will allow avoiding bankruptcies, and during the deferral period, companies will be able, for example, to find an external investor who could help capitalize the organization and repay part of the debt, Natalia Milchakova from Freedom Finance Global said.
On the other hand, there is a risk for the financial sector, for example, if vacations are issued en masse. However, financial organizations are reluctant to answer the question of whether they see risks to the banking system from extending credit holidays to SMEs.
VTB promptly commented on this topic, explaining that they positively assess initiatives to support entrepreneurs. The loan holidays will help maintain the quality of the loan portfolio and reduce the payment burden for customers, the press service said.
It is important to understand that credit holidays do not mean a complete refusal of payments. For the entire duration of the holidays, the lender continues to charge interest for the use of the loan at the rate stipulated in the contract, said Meri Valishvili, Associate Professor of the Department of State and Municipal Finance at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. The borrower will have to pay them off, but such a respite will still reduce the debt burden of the company that took out the loan.
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