Russian government continues to support the nation’s aviation sector and other key areas hit by Covid-19 – Putin

Speaking at his annual conference, the president said that the aviation and railway transportation sectors, services, and non-food retail were hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak. The authorities were working hard to alleviate the impact of the virus, Putin said, talking about the support measures introduced by the government.

Russia reviving domestic aviation with new aircraft engine, cutting dependence on foreign suppliers, experts tell RT

He explained that all payments, except for VAT (value-added tax), were rescheduled, and the government issued grants and special terms for loans. The loans were issued at zero and two-percent rates, with the opportunity to write off the debt if a company manages to keep 90 percent of its employees. At the same time, contributions to social funds for small and medium-sized enterprises were reduced by half.

“It is a whole complex of measures that supported the affected sectors,” Putin told journalists.

Apart from helping the troubled businesses, the government is working with key sectors such as agriculture, aviation, and the automotive and shipbuilding industries. Putin noted that those sectors are rapidly developing despite the crisis, citing as an example the recent maiden flight of the Irkut MC-21-310 aircraft, a narrow-body jet airliner equipped with two Russian PD-14 engines. Civil shipbuilding has also expanded, gaining 30 percent despite the pandemic, Putin said.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/509966-covid-19-measures-economy-putin/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS