Almost every fourth ruble of taxes to the budget of the Vitebsk region is contributed by entrepreneurs
Almost every fourth ruble of tax revenue to the budget of the Vitebsk region is generated by entrepreneurship. This was announced today by the Chairperson of the Economics Committee of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Anzhelika Nikitina, at a session of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies when considering the issue of developing the sphere of entrepreneurship.
The entrepreneurship sector, whose entities operate in almost all sectors of the economy, is an important reserve for economic development, budget filling, and improving the well-being of residents. "The sphere of entrepreneurship provides almost every fourth ruble of tax revenue to the region's budget. Today, about 140 thousand people are employed in this sector of the region's economy, or 29% of the total number of employed in the region's economy. 8.6 thousand small and medium-sized organizations and 21.5 thousand individual entrepreneurs are registered in the region. Small and medium-sized businesses account for about 15% of the GRP, more than 10% of industrial production, almost 40% of foreign trade turnover, half of goods exports, and more than 60% of services exports," emphasized Anzhelika Nikitina.
At the same time, according to her, all available opportunities in the development of small and medium-sized businesses are not being fully utilized today. In particular, the indicators of entrepreneurship density per thousand inhabitants in the Vitebsk region are among the lowest in the republic. "However, where local authorities actively work with entrepreneurial structures to identify and eliminate 'bottlenecks', it is possible, all other conditions being equal, to have a higher business density and, accordingly, more jobs and budget revenues. For example, in Polotsk, Liozno, Beshenkovichi districts, and Vitebsk, the density of organizations per thousand inhabitants is above the regional average, and in the Vitebsk district, it is above the national average," stated the chairperson of the committee.
Anzhelika Nikitina also focused on the need to intensify the efforts of local authorities to inform residents and existing entrepreneurs about the opportunities and preferences that
became available when organizing a business with the entry into force of decrees No. 6 "On stimulating entrepreneurial activity in the territories of medium-sized and small urban settlements, rural areas", No. 7 "On the development of entrepreneurship" and decree No. 345 "On the development of trade, public catering and consumer services"."In each district, city, it is necessary to identify those who wish to engage in entrepreneurship, to establish a dialogue so that people stop being afraid to open their own business. Everything depends on us, on a systematic approach to working with initiative people to involve them in the entrepreneurial sector," she emphasized.
To widely attract entrepreneurs, a public advisory (expert) council for the development of entrepreneurship operates under the regional executive committee. Three incubators and eight entrepreneurship support centers are functioning, and extensive informational work is being carried out. Since the beginning of the current year alone, 28 free seminars have been held with trips to the districts, attended by over 500 people. Businessmen are taught effective advertising and marketing strategies, product promotion via the internet, and much more.
The development of entrepreneurship in the region is also facilitated by comprehensive state support. For example, for projects involving job creation, there is an opportunity for partial repayment from the budget of bank loan interest on a competitive basis. The region has already held a competition of investment projects for small business entities for the third time, as a result of which last year 10 entities were granted subsidies to compensate for part of the interest on bank loans, and they created 17 jobs, and this year - for two projects. The competition will be announced again.