Business Ombudsman explains who can receive state support

About a million companies were affected during the pandemic. Income of 60 percent of them has decreased. More than 174,000 individual entrepreneurs have closed their businesses, Rustam Zhursunov, Ombudsman for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs, said. According to him, the service sector took the brunt of it. More than 800,000 businessmen are engaged in this sector. These are retail trade, transport, hotel business, catering, entertainment and recreation. The Business Ombudsman reminds that representatives of the most affected industries can still take advantage of the loan deferral. Last year alone, such assistance was provided to over 18,000 Kazakh entrepreneurs. More than 3,000 loans worth 387 billion tenge were issued under the program of concessional lending at an 8 percent rate.

“Currently, the support measure covers 346 types of economic activity. To obtain a loan deferral, you must apply to a credit institution. This can be done through email or mobile application until June 30, 2021. Medium-sized businesses, in addition to the application, must also attach documents confirming the deterioration of their financial situation,” said Rustam Zhursunov, Ombudsman for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs.

Translation and editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova