As indicated in the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, a moratorium on rent increases for businesses is necessary due to a reduction in profits against the background of Western sanctions
The Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy proposed to impose a moratorium on rent increases for small and medium-sized businesses, if we are talking about land and offices in state ownership. This is reported by TASS with reference to the letter of the committee addressed to the Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov.
“As part of the work to improve the business climate and increase activity in the segment of small and medium—sized businesses, [it is proposed] to introduce a moratorium on rent increases for the use of land plots and non-residential facilities owned by federal, regional and municipal property,” the document signed by the head of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Andrey Kutepov says.
As Kutepov noted, under the conditions of sanctions pressure, many small and medium-sized businesses have significantly reduced net profit and the base for business development “due to the increase in the cost of production due to the increase in costs for the purchase of raw materials, materials and components.” “In cases where business is conducted on leased premises, an additional negative impact on its stability is caused by an increase in rent. Tenants may have particularly strong consequences if the terms of the contract provide for an increase in rent by the amount of the inflation rate,” the senator stressed.
In December 2022, the director of the office real estate department of NF Group, Maria Zimina, clarified to RBC that in 2022 the average cost of renting 1 sq. m of Class A office space increased by 4% and was fixed at 26.9 thousand rubles per year. At the same time, according to her, a slight decrease occurred in Class B offices: in early January, the average price of 1 sq. m. m was 17.5 thousand rubles, and by the end of the year it decreased by 1% to 17.3 thousand rubles.
