Russian Industry and Trade Ministry proposes extending preferential insurance contribution rate of 7.6% to all light industry enterprises

MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) - The Russian Industry and Trade Ministry has proposed making all light industry subcategories eligible for the preferential rate of 7.6% insurance contributions, Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov said at the parliamentary hearings in the State Duma on Thursday.

This preferential rate currently applies to IT companies, electronics enterprises and small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

"According to various data, according to my data, which we verified with the Federal Tax Service, lost revenue from the budget should not exceed 1 billion rubles," Alikhanov said, commenting on the possibility of introducing a preferential rate for light industry enterprises.

He also said that there were plans to boost funding for subsidized equipment leasing in light industry. He said that the demand for this measure always exceeded the available funding, and that the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry had therefore proposed increasing the allocated funds from 648.5 million rubles in 2026 to 1.5 billion rubles in the subsequent years.

Alikhanov said that the strategic goal approved for light industry in 2020 was to achieve a 50% market share in Russia by 2035.

"But we are already in a position to occupy 45% of the domestic market at the present moment. According to a range of indicators and for certain goods categories we have essentially gone beyond the plans which we were aiming to fulfil by 2030 - for example, sales of clothing items have exceeded our target to 2030 by 33%, sales of work overalls by 67% [...] In the third quarter of this year, we will need to approve our updated strategy for the industry, with the principal aim of occupying a 65% share of the domestic market for Russian-produced goods by 2036," the minister said.