One in ten businesses in the country may close in 2021, RBC reports, citing data from the monitoring of business ombudsman Boris Titov's office.

The survey was conducted in February among managers and owners of five thousand companies from all Russian regions.

Thus, more than 40% of the enterprises felt that the demand for their products and services decreased by half last year. Almost 60% reported a reduction in revenue of more than 30%. Approximately 45% of respondents cut their payroll.

Only a fifth of respondents did not feel the fall in demand in 2020.

At the same time, after the relaxation of restrictive measures, 66% of domestic companies have not seen a recovery in demand.

One-third of respondents reported a decrease in turnover at the beginning of this year, while 27.1% maintained it at the level of 2020. As a result, one in ten enterprises (9.7%) is preparing to close.

However, almost one in five (19.1%) of the respondents stated a gradual recovery of last year's losses.

According to the survey, companies expect to reduce the tax burden or a new tax restructuring. Such a measure was supported by almost 67% of entrepreneurs. At the same time about 47% of businessmen urged not to quarantine their business any longer.

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Author: Ksenia Gustova