Prospects for the development of small businesses under sanctions. Start a small business under sanctions. How to start a business in a crisis

With all the understanding of the fact that small business is the basis of the entire economy of the country, our fellow citizens less and less often visit the desire to engage in individual activities, although even at the dawn of the century the situation was exactly the opposite. The problems of small business in Russia are to blame for this, which are caused by various factors and phenomena.

What are the challenges small businesses face?

The path along which the development of small forms of entrepreneurship in the Russian Federation is taking place has its own specifics and features. This is due, first of all, to the mentality, unstable economy, lack of business culture in general.
When starting your own business, you need to understand that prosperity or failure will depend on a number of factors - external and internal.

The whole range of emerging difficulties can be divided into several groups:

• organizational;
• logistics problems;
• financial;
• credit insecurity.

It is no secret that the normal functioning of any enterprise is possible only if the interests of consumers, entrepreneurs and the state are harmoniously combined.

Internal problems

The problems of small business development in Russia begin, first of all, with the enterprise itself. Conventionally, they can be called internal obstacles.

• Money

Getting and earning them is becoming increasingly difficult. It all starts with start-up capital, which is the accumulated funds. With skillful use of them, you can achieve good results, but this requires a fresh idea, competent planning, and continuous improvement of products and services. And even if you have enough money, a completely different situation may be with your customers who are late in paying, repaying debts and paying bills.

• Planning

Or rather, we will talk about its absence. The reason for this is directly related to the lack of knowledge in the field of business, and the result is a panic spending of money on all sorts of emerging problems, which ultimately leads to bankruptcy. If you do have a development plan, do not forget to revise it based on rapidly changing economic conditions.

• Management

Often the leader of the company forgets about his main duties as a manager and switches to the functions of an ordinary manager. The key to successful leadership is a properly selected team, to which the leader can delegate part of the responsibilities.

External problems

Opening a small business during a crisis in 2019 is a rather risky undertaking. Before you really decide to take such a step, you need to clearly understand what external factors can affect the overall success of the case.

Imperfect legislation and tax system

The first regulatory document on small business was adopted back in 1995. Over the years, it has become completely clear that this legislation has a lot of shortcomings, which not only do not contribute, but also hinder the development of business in our country. The next document was signed in 2007 and today more and more changes are made to it every year.

The state clearly regulates the size of enterprises, forms of ownership, income level. The main restraining force is the numerous reporting in endless instances. No less detrimental are the penalties for late submission of reporting documents. And even with a variety of business support programs and a simplified system for levying taxes for small businesses, the amount of these taxes still remains prohibitive for many.

Administrative barriers

Problems are also created by excessive regulation of small businesses in the Russian Federation. Usually they are called administrative barriers. These include:

• numerous checks;
• time-consuming procedures for registering and obtaining the necessary permits;
• endless coordination in various instances.

Practice shows that the less obstacles are set in the state for creating an enterprise, obtaining licenses, entering the international market, attracting hired employees, the better small business feels.

Removing such administrative obstacles holds great potential for business prosperity.

Access to fulfillment of government orders

It has long been known that the specific needs of the state are such that some of them can only be satisfied by small businesses, since such orders are not of particular interest to large manufacturers. But for small companies, this allows them to fully launch their production facilities. But corruption schemes often arise here, and it becomes simply impossible for owners of small companies to receive even the most minimal government order.

Financing

It is impossible not to identify the problems of lending to small businesses. There is no great desire on the part of banks to allocate credit funds for the development of small businesses in our country. This is due to the high risk and inability of companies to repay borrowed capital. According to experts, only 30% of all applicants receive a loan request in our country, and microcredit is available even to a smaller number - only 10%.

Great difficulties arise for those who are going to open their own enterprise. It is much easier to get a loan if you have already achieved some results and have a clean credit history. In this case, many banking structures are even ready to make concessions - to reduce interest rates, soften the terms of repayment and the size of the commission.

Shortage of qualified employees

This phenomenon is directly related to insufficient financing of the enterprise. Naturally, when choosing a job, a professional manager or production worker will go to a company with a large budget, where he will be offered a completely different salary level than in a small company, where work is often done on enthusiasm.

Sanctions

The impact of sanctions on small businesses in Russia became tangible last year. This was reflected in the rise in food prices, the increase in the exchange rate of the euro and the dollar, and restrictions on entering the international market. Small business turned out to be the most vulnerable in the entire economic sector. If, before the introduction of restrictions, small firms were already operating on the verge of profitability, then in the new conditions, many of them will generally find themselves outside the economy.

Prospects for the development of small business

The big advantage of the further development of small businesses in our country is the fact that the state is fully aware that the loss of this economic layer will lead to irreparable changes. First of all, the middle class of the population will disappear, social discrimination will begin, the level of prices for goods and services will get out of control.

In this regard, a government program is being implemented, according to which in the period 2015-2016 the number of individual entrepreneurs should increase by 2 million throughout the country. Good prospects for small businesses in Russia in 2019 are expected by those enterprises that offer essential goods: food, clothes, shoes. There are also chances for those who provide various kinds of services: equipment repair, car service.

The state is taking certain steps to assist small entrepreneurs:

• funds are allocated to compensate registration costs and start a business;
• free business training is provided;
• preferential conditions for renting office space;
• provides for the possibility of concessional lending and receiving non-refundable subsidies.

Among the latest steps towards small business is the moratorium on inspections signed in July 2015 (the so-called supervisory holidays). active implementation on the official websites of the Federal Tax Service, the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation and the Social Insurance Fund, the Unified Portal of State Services of various online services that are designed to simplify many licensing and registration procedures, calculate and pay mandatory taxes and fees, etc.

Problems of small business and entrepreneur in Russia: Video

In the context of sanctions and an unstable macroeconomic environment, small manufacturing businesses have a good chance to increase their competitiveness through flexibility and focus on the domestic market. However, the frequently changing rules of the game, inflation and the unavailability of loans do not allow it to increase investments and turnover, experts from the HSE ISSEK Center for Market Research noted in a pilot issue of monitoring the business climate in small industrial organizations.

The first issue of the monitoring is devoted to the state of affairs in small business in the second half of 2014 and the expectations of entrepreneurs for the first half of 2015.

The experts analyzed the opinions of the leaders of more than 1,000 small industrial organizations. The survey was commissioned by the National Research University Higher School of Economics in October 2014 by ANO "Statistics of Russia".

Despite the difficult macroeconomic environment and the external economic environment, small businesses in the second half of 2014 were in a better position than large and medium-sized businesses. Moreover, it received a certain impetus for development due to the increase in its competitiveness. In conditions of instability, more flexible and mobile enterprises began to win (this is precisely a small business), which are able to quickly adapt to the new rules of the game, market conditions and do not depend on demand in the foreign market.

“Positive moments revealed by the survey include the opinions of managers about the increasing competitiveness of the main type of product in the domestic market. At the same time, three-quarters of respondents expect that the growth of competitiveness will continue in the first half of 2015,” the monitoring emphasizes.

49% of the small business leaders surveyed said that the quality of their products is the main factor stimulating their production.

At the same time, the uncertainty of the current economic environment and the general decline in demand led to a decrease in investment activity and output. Thus, 71% of managers of small industries noted insufficient demand for products in the domestic market and an increase in production costs. 66% of managers noted that they practically do not invest.

As a result, only 11% of enterprises had almost full capacity utilization, and 8% of small production managers recorded an improvement in the economic situation at their enterprises in the current half of the year compared to the first half of 2014.

“If almost three-quarters of the leaders of small enterprises in the industry, to put it mildly, do not really understand what is currently happening with the country's economy, then it is hardly possible to expect managerial steps from them towards investment, modernization and innovation,” said CCI experts. .

The situation was exacerbated by the devaluation of the ruble, rising prices and difficulties in obtaining bank loans. About 40% of businessmen reported that they felt the rise in prices for raw materials and supplies. 60% of entrepreneurs complained about the low availability of loans.

As a result, the business confidence index (CSI) – a seasonally adjusted indicator characterizing the state of the business climate in small manufacturing businesses – turned out to be “in the red” in the second half of 2014 and amounted to -9% (the corresponding monthly ICI value for this period for large and medium-sized industrial enterprises enterprises, was observed at around -4%).

The authors of the study warn that the constant stress that small businesses are exposed to, as well as changes in the rules of the game and government regulation, cannot enable entrepreneurs to become drivers of future economic growth and increase market share. According to Rosstat, in the first half of 2014, the share of small enterprises was 16%, and their turnover did not exceed 10% of the turnover of the entire Russian industry.

The leaders of small manufacturing companies identified the top 10 limiting factors for their business:

• rising prices for energy resources - 75% of managers;
• uncertainty of the economic environment - 72% of managers;
• insufficient demand for products in the domestic market - 71% of managers;
• increasing costs for the development of final products - 71% of managers;
• the existing tax regime - 69% of managers;
• inflation expectations - 68% of managers;
• interest rates on loans - 64% of managers;
• lack of qualified personnel - 62% of managers;
• high transportation costs - 57% of managers;
• the amount of financial resources - 56% of managers.

Commented by the Director of the Center for Market Research at ISSEK NRU HSEGeorgy Ostapkovich :

Over the entire more than twenty-year post-Soviet history of existence, the institution of small business has experienced a whole series of declines and relative upswings. Each new cycle, filled with initiatives and projects, gave small entrepreneurs new hopes for a “big future”. However, the change of stages occurred without obvious structural shifts in the economy as a whole. As a result, “protracted maturation”, often accompanied by exciting economic, institutional and regulatory changes, has become a national specific feature of the development of Russian small business.

The current survey of the business climate of small industries for the second half of 2014 is just another confirmation of the current situation. The totality of available statistical data indicates that the dynamics of the development of Russian industrial enterprises is filled with predominantly unfavorable trends, and the list of stress factors indicates that the "small" ones are still not heard.

The ceiling of opportunities for companies will continue to be limited by many factors, the main of which are the depression of the real sector as a source of demand, limited material resources, and unforeseen legislative maneuvers.

The problem of not quite legal activity is one of the key and large enough to understand the specifics of small business. In particular, the State Duma plans to discuss amendments to the Tax Code on the introduction of fees for certain types of economic activity.

Experiments with the regulatory framework, especially in the field of taxation, often led to an increase in social tension and the partial retreat of enterprises into the informal economy. In the course of the survey, 86% of managers reported that, for example, a downward revision of tax rates would be the most effective regulatory solution to bring production out of the shadow.

Thus, right now it is important to understand that the current moment in the context of the basis for the formation of the New Economy and, as a result, the near future for small organizations, should become an exception to the rules and the beginning of a new cycle. The nature of the observed economic transformation, especially in terms of import substitution, is more than ever driving change. In particular, the rise of the food and light industry, the defense complex is seen in the near future as the locomotive of small industry as the main import-substituting segments. The existing potential and, most importantly, the strong Russian entrepreneurial spirit, which surprisingly allows them to stay in business, despite the constant changes in the rules of the game, can become a pillar for the future industrial development of Russia.

In connection with the recent economic wars, the question arose before entrepreneurs,. It is clear that the crisis cannot last forever, that it will be followed by growth, but in order to live up to this growth, so that it happens, something must be done now. But before we figure out how to make money on sanctions, we suggest assessing the overall economic situation in the country.

Geopolitical situation

How do sanctions affect business today? GDP has fallen to 0.5%, the demand for jobs has increased, the budget deficit has increased, prices are only rising. It is known that 75% of Russia's exports are oil, which is about half of the budget. Sanctions on other export products make their contribution. This means that the government will not only cut social payments, but will in principle create unfavorable conditions for business.

What is the risk of a budget deficit?

It is impossible to save the budget by cutting costs alone, it must be filled with something. And usually it comes at the expense of taxes. Thus, a new real estate tax for individuals, a transport tax, has been introduced. Business under the sanctions survives simply: incomes go into the shadows, and jobs are cut.

Speaking about the impact of sanctions on business, it is impossible not to mention the sales tax, which has now been raised to 3%. This means that an increase in the cost of production is also inevitable, since each businessman will compensate for these losses at the expense of buyers. Therefore, inflation is inevitable.

The positive side of the crisis

But the impact of sanctions on business cannot be only negative; there are positive aspects to this as well. Thus, the course of development of the domestic economy focused on the development of domestic industries, the level of competition in other areas decreased. True, now the products may be of less quality.

It should be noted the impact of sanctions on business in the banking sector. Thus, due to the lack of foreign loans, domestic banks increased the interest rate on loans. This means that the population will be less involved in credit relations. To survive, banks began to develop various systems of discounts, loans and other conditions. Now you can start a business in a crisis on the most favorable terms.

The process of commodity substitution of imported goods with domestic and goods of those countries that have not adopted sanctions has begun.

State support

Since 2008, the National Wealth Fund of Russia has been operating, which helps the country survive in difficult conditions. Bills are also being developed that will help not only to continue, but also start a business under sanctions. These are various tax holidays, the creation of special economic zones, technology parks, and so on. Although basically experts do not recommend relying heavily on state support.

How to start a business in a crisis

Today, there are many ideas on how to start a small business in the face of sanctions. Basically, they are based on the idea of ​​substituting imported goods with domestic ones. This helps to create not only inexpensive competitive analogues, but also new jobs.

So, How can you make money on sanctions? Here are some possible options for developing a business in the face of sanctions.

Compound feed for fish

The sanctions first swept red fish from Russian shelves, which was completely supplied from Norway. Domestic farmers quickly got their bearings and decided to start a business in a crisis on red fish. Soon she again appeared on the shelves, however, at an unusually high price. The thing is that the feed for her was also supplied from Norway, since there was not enough domestic feed for everyone, and its quality was not high. That is, this line of business is quite promising.

domestic fast food

Make money on sanctions It is possible by reviving domestic eateries, which used to offer simple salads, sandwiches, dumplings and soups. They had a high trade margin and a high turnover. If you set the average check lower than at McDonald's, then attendance is guaranteed. Especially when you consider that McDonald's will also close soon.

Milk production

Surprisingly, 80% of the milk sold in Russia was imported. Therefore, this is one of the most profitable options, how to start a small business under sanctions.

Tools for the oil business

Before the sanctions, only imported tools and consumables were used in the oil refining industry. Mostly European and American made. Moreover, the main problem was not in the devices themselves, but in the threaded connection. Therefore, today there is an opportunity to attract domestic engineers and manufacturers.

Devices for pipelines

In the domestic construction of pipelines, American-made route finders were used. They have easy navigation, GPS connection, so they are better at finding pipes. But if you buy high-quality components, domestic engineers can make the device no worse using the national GLONASS system.

Thermal imagers

To identify problems in the electrical networks, our electricians use thermal imagers that were supplied from Europe. However, we have all the conditions to open this kind of business under sanctions.

beef meat

Previously, it was more profitable to buy beef in Europe, which is now also subject to sanctions. But due to state support in the regions, start a business in a crisis on beef today is very profitable.

Cheese

European cheeses that were brought to Russia are produced on small farms using standard equipment. Our farmers only need to purchase this equipment and open this business.

GLONASS receivers

If you buy a domestic chip for decoding and encryption, you can start producing your own receivers. The remaining parts of GPS navigators were produced in our country.

Apples - cultivation

We ate mainly Polish apples. Now there is a great chance to organize your own production.

How sanctions affect business

They primarily affected:

Companies that are tied to the exchange rate;
companies that work with certain services and goods that are subject to sanctions;
people who are customers or partners of companies, but now cannot continue cooperation.

These are automakers, financial institutions. But consulting and legal companies, manufacturers of commodity-substituting products were on the wave. The defense complex also lost some of the instruments, however, this will serve as an incentive for domestic production.

Domestic entrepreneurs note that projects focused on European equipment are now risky. Therefore, they are recommended to introduce domestic developments or transfer production outside of Russia. In addition, various trading platforms will be developed, where representatives of various businesses can meet. But sanctions do not come only from foreign countries. Sometimes customs finds all possible reasons to refuse the import of American goods that are not subject to sanctions. Under such conditions start a small business under sanctions quite difficult.

During the November round of the RSPP Business Environment Index survey, participants were asked additional questions about the consequences of sanctions for Russian business. 55 companies took part in the survey on this topic. 70.4% of respondents indicated "industry" as the main type of economic activity. About 11% of companies belong to the energy sector. The construction sector companies accounted for 9.3%, while the transport and communications sector companies accounted for 7.4%. Most of the respondents (83.3%) belong to the category of "big business", representatives of medium enterprises accounted for 7.5%, and small businesses - 9.2%.

48.1% of the companies that took part in the survey believe that economic sanctions have an impact on the activities of enterprises. 38.9% deny the impact of sanctions on their companies, and 13% found it difficult to answer this question.

We asked a clarifying question, what kind of sanctions affect the activities of organizations. A third of respondents chose the answer “both sanctions from Western countries and retaliatory sanctions from Russia affect the activities of companies”, and two-thirds of the survey participants are sure that we can only talk about the impact of sanctions from the US, European countries and the EU.

The introduction of sanctions has affected the economic conditions for doing business in various areas.

In November, the most critical for Russian business was the rise in prices for raw materials, equipment, components associated with the imposition of sanctions by the EU countries, the US, Japan and other countries - this was stated by 64.6% of respondents. 20.8% of organizations noted that the impact in this area is insignificant. At the same time, 14.6% do not experience rising prices for raw materials, equipment, components due to sanctions.

The decrease in the availability of loans has an impact on the activities of almost half of the companies participating in the survey (48.9%), and 17% of companies noted that the introduction of sanctions in this area has little or no impact.

35.4% of organizations reported a decrease in investments as a consequence of the imposition of sanctions, while the activity of 27.1% of companies has an insignificant impact on the activities of 27.1% of companies.

For 29.2% of business representatives who took part in the survey, the negative result of the imposition of sanctions was the inability to equip the organization with new equipment, technologies due to restrictions on the import of goods, works, services. 35.4% of respondents feel the impact of sanctions in this area as insignificant, and the same number of companies do not experience such an impact on the activities of companies.

18.8% of respondents indicated that a significant consequence associated with the imposition of sanctions was the emergence of difficulties in working with related organizations - recipients of products / services, in the case of 27.1% of companies, such difficulties have an insignificant impact on activities.

15% of the organizations that participated in the survey feel the impact of the ban on the supply of food to Russia from the US, Europe and other countries, 12.5% ​​of respondents stated that this impact was insignificant. 72.5% of companies do not experience consequences for their companies due to the introduction of this ban.

The need to search for new counterparties, changes in supply logistics affect 14.6% of organizations, 31.2% indicated that this kind of impact is insignificant, and 54.2% of companies do not see consequences for themselves in the direction of the need to search for new counterparties, changes in supply logistics.

The decrease in demand for manufactured products / services of companies participating in the survey is associated with the introduction of sanctions, according to 12.5% ​​of respondents; 27.1% of organizations noted the impact of reduced demand due to sanctions as insignificant. 60.4% deny this kind of consequences for their business from the imposition of sanctions.

Termination of cooperation in the defense sphere as a result of the imposition of sanctions is significant for 11.4% of companies that participated in the survey, 6.8% of organizations believe that the termination of cooperation in the defense sphere affects the activities of their company to a small extent.

Termination of cooperation in the oil and gas sector has an impact on 9.5% of the companies participating in the survey, for 19% of companies this impact is insignificant. 71.4% of respondents deny for themselves the impact of the imposition of sanctions in the oil and gas sector.

Problems with the export of products appeared in 6.4% of the companies participating in the survey, 19.1% marked the option "not fully or slightly", 74.5% of respondents have no such problems.

When asked whether there are opportunities for import substitution in the industry where the companies participating in the survey work or plan to work, 60% answered positively, respectively, 40% chose a negative answer.

According to more than half of the respondents who indicated that import substitution in their industry is in principle possible, the imposed sanctions expand the possibilities for import substitution. 18.2% of companies believe otherwise. 15.2% of survey participants do not see a connection between the process of import substitution and the imposition of sanctions. The same share was made up of companies that found it difficult to answer this question.

For most organizations, the company's strategy in the context of sanctions is to optimize the costs of the enterprise without reducing output (volume of activity / production) - 78.3% of respondents chose this option.

A quarter of the respondents (26.1%) plan to expand production, and a fifth of the survey participants are ready to reorient the enterprise to produce other products. 17.4% of respondents said about intensification - an increase in output (results of activity) without expanding production as an integral part of the company's strategy in the context of sanctions, 13% of companies are going to reduce the volume of production or the provision of services.

19.6% of organizations intend to change the headcount during the sanctions period - to reduce employees. 17.4% of companies indicated that they are ready to change their personnel policy, and 15.2% are going to reduce the size of the "social package".

10.9% of organizations have an anti-sanction plan in place.

According to the respondents, the key areas for providing state support are programs for subsidizing investment projects, modernization and reconstruction of production (the share of answers is 75%).

Programs for compensating interest rates on investment loans, concessional lending attract 62.5% of the organizations that took part in the survey.

More than half of the survey participants (55%) indicated the reduction of the fiscal burden, the suspension of tax initiatives related to the introduction of a sales tax, a change in the procedure for accruing social payments to the Pension Fund, and others as the most demanded type of support from the state. Half of the companies are interested in such a measure of support as extending the property tax exemption to increase the cost during modernization, reconstruction, facilities commissioned before 2013.

42.5% of companies believe that support should be provided in the form of the establishment of benefits and preferences at the legislative level in the implementation of large-scale investment projects by Russian enterprises.

The provision of state guarantees for investment projects is in demand as a measure of state support in the face of sanctions by a little more than a third of companies (32.5%).

This question was a multiple-choice question, so the sum does not add up to 100%.

Why are the sanctions of Western countries against Russia for a long time? How do the restrictions imposed by the United States differ from the "measures of influence" that the European Union has established against the Russian Federation? Which of the US agencies is more active than others in favor of imposing new sanctions against Russia? And how should our country respond to such a challenge? Representatives of government agencies and lawyers from all over the world spoke about this at a joint conference between Pravo.ru and ART DE LEX.

The moderator of the first panel of the event, managing partner Dmitry Magonya already at the very beginning outlined several main theses of the discussion. First, it seems that sanctions are a predestination that cannot be avoided, he noted. In addition, new restrictions against Russia are constantly appearing, the latest of which the US introduced in April of this year.

Despite the political reasons for the initial establishment of the sanctions regime, the conference participants agreed in advance not to touch on this aspect. We do not answer the question of who is to blame, but we will figure out what to do, Magonya noted.

What will be the correct answer of Russia

But first, Alexandra Bai, an adviser to Steptoe & Johnson, spoke briefly about who is most active in supporting the existing restrictions against Russia in the United States. According to her, the US Congress plays an important role in imposing the sanctions: "This body takes a fairly aggressive position." The very same "measures of influence" on our country from the standpoint of legal technique have many vague formulations. In fact, they are written the same way for Iran and for Russia, Bai said. In addition, the restrictions imposed against the Russian Federation have recently been increasingly directed at the country as a whole, and not at specific individuals, the speaker added.

She elaborated on the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which Donald Trump signed into law in the summer of 2017. The document gave form to the restrictive measures against Russia, Iran and North Korea, adopted by previous US administrations, and introduced additional sanctions. The main feature of this act is its extraterritorial nature, Bai explained. The rules in this law apply to non-US individuals and entities anywhere in the world. And the American president will not be able to ease or cancel the sanctions regime on his own - for this he will need the approval of Congress.

And as a result, such political decisions distort our economic life, Andrey Tsyganov, Deputy Head of the FAS, stated. Sanctions are always bad, the speaker said: "They are prone to self-acceleration and self-escalation." The restrictions imposed by Western countries against Russia are discriminatory and selective, he continued: “Sanctions distort normal economic life when they categorically divide people and companies into “bad” and “good”.

At the same time, retaliatory steps against Western "measures of influence" should be treated very carefully, the representative of the antimonopoly authority believes: "One of the big dangers in this process is the punishment of the innocent." It is unlikely that the CEO of a foreign company with a broad representation in Russia dreamed that the government of his country would ban this foreign company from working with the Russian Federation, Tsyganov said.

The reaction of the Russian authorities to the sanctions should be balanced and balanced. The best response to the imposed restrictions is the openness of our economy to investment and innovation. In the Far East, we are promoting just such an approach.

Pavel Volkov, State Secretary, Deputy Minister for the Development of the Far East

In addition, our state will definitely help domestic companies that have fallen under sanctions, the deputy head of the FAS admitted. But he warned that this assistance must be provided very carefully, analyzing each situation separately: “Under the guise of losses from sanctions, firms can present losses from their poor management and inefficient investment decisions.”

Accustomed foreigners and the difference in sanctions

Expanding on Tsyganov's thesis that foreign business hardly dreamed of the existing sanctions regime with Russia, Helge Mazannek, partner and head of Russian tax advice at Rödl & Partner, explained how German entrepreneurs have adapted to the "new realities" in recent years. To do this, foreign enterprises had to introduce their own separate compliance systems on this topic, the expert said. He emphasized how strong individual sanctions the EU has imposed on Crimea and Sevastopol. Firstly, no goods can be imported into the European Union from these territories. Secondly, foreigners are prohibited from investing in any projects on the peninsula. There is also a ban on the supply of a wide variety of products to the Crimea from Western countries, explained Mazannek. The expert noted that the restrictions apply even to the tourism sector. To ensure that all these “enforcement measures” are observed, European legislation provides for serious penalties for violating the “sanctions regime”. In Germany, you can even get up to 10 years in prison for this, the lawyer said.

In any case, US and EU sanctions are two different paradigms, Ivan Timofeev, program director of the Russian International Affairs Council, explained, since American “enforcement measures” are very difficult to lift, and it is much easier for the EU to do it, the expert assured. The main danger from the imposed restrictions is that they can be established “suddenly and illogically”: “As it happened in early April of this year.” This situation creates great uncertainty for business, Timofeev stated: "It is not clear where to wait for the next injection - in which sector." Pavel Shinsky, the head of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, finally compared this state of affairs with the sudden abolition of the rules in chess: “Imagine that the judge suddenly allows Black to move first, then forbids the Russian player to castling, and the American, on the contrary, allows ".