St. Petersburg Offers Loans to Wildberries Sellers After Attacks
St. Petersburg authorities and Wildberries met with victims of attacks on the seller's warehouses yesterday. A closed meeting took place at the Center for the Development and Support of Entrepreneurs involving St. Petersburg authorities, the marketplace, and entrepreneurs.
Consensus
- Drone attacks occurred on Wildberries warehouses in St. Petersburg and Lenedoblast in July and August.
- More than 100 St. Petersburg-based producers were affected by the attacks.
- The St. Petersburg government announced a loan program for affected producers through the Fund for Supporting SME Financing.
- Loans are available up to 5 million rubles for small producers and up to 30 million rubles for larger companies.
- Interest rates on loans range from 3% to 10.5% annually.
- Tax deferrals are being considered, with the federal government responsible for developing the procedure.
- Major banks like VTB and Sberbank are preparing to restructure loans without worsening terms.
- A hotline was launched in St. Petersburg on August 13 for affected sellers.
- A closed-door meeting was held between St. Petersburg authorities, Wildberries, and affected sellers.
- Sellers reported that most issues remained unresolved after the meeting.
- Wildberries has not provided access to inventory data due to ongoing warehouse inventory checks.
- Sellers have not received any compensation so far.
Points of divergence
- Sellers expressed dissatisfaction with the loan program, calling it unimpressive and stating that they were instead offered new microfinancing under collateral of real estate. — tg_paperpaper_ru
- Sellers requested exemption from VAT, which the tax authority stated it could not grant as it is not a legislative body. — tg_paperpaper_ru
- The meeting did not result in immediate solutions, with most questions remaining unresolved. — tg_paperpaper_ru
- The loan program is funded by the St. Petersburg Fund for Supporting SME Financing and is available only to companies registered in St. Petersburg with proof of lost goods. — fontanka
- The loan program was not well received by attendees, with no excitement generated. — tg_paperpaper_ru
Coverage (3 sources)
- Up to 30 million rubles. Vice-governor Polyakov revealed details of preferential loans for Wildberries sellers — Фонтанка
- «Deferments are great, but it would be great to be exempt from VAT». St. Petersburg authorities and Wildberries met with victims... — Бумага
- Tax holidays, credit restructuring and preferential loans. In St. Petersburg, measures to support Wildberries sellers were discussed — Фонтанка
Key entities
- Wildberries
- Saint Petersburg
- Kirill Polyakov
- Center for the Development and Support of Entrepreneurship
- Central Bank
- Fontanka
- FNS
- VTB
- Saint Petersburg
- Leningrad Region
- Sber
- Dmitry Panov
- Legislative Assembly
- Rondal
More on Kirill Polyakov
- Saint Petersburg Metro Tests Automated Train System
- Over 100 St. Petersburg firms hit by Wildberries drone attacks
- Suburban Trains Delayed to August 25 in St. Petersburg