OREANDA-NEWS. January 19, 2011. The Russian Bank for Development is continuing a series of social studies of SME in the regions of the Russian Federation. The latest research was conducted by the Bank together with the “Popular Initiative” Fund and All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) in the Siberian city of Tomsk. The research was focused on the issues related to awareness of SMEs of the current procedures for SME support.

By VCIOM estimates 81% of the respondents in Tomsk regard lending as a funding source for their business, at that 76% of the respondents consider that the size of the interest rate is an essential criterion when selecting a loan. According to the survey the percentage of entrepreneurs informed about the SME Lending Support Programs in Tomsk is rather high – nearly a half of the respondents (46%) confirmed that they not only aware of the current forms of the state-sponsored business support, in particular about the RBD’s program, but efficiently use them.

“Taking into consideration that a considerable proportion of entrepreneurs in Tomsk (20%) attribute themselves to innovative, the small business in the region requires corresponding financial resources on reasonable terms. The mission of our bank is exactly to make credit products light for small business”, explained Olesia Teploukhova, Deputy Chairman of the Board of RBD.