On the Issue of Introducing a Legal Definition of «Concessional Lending to Small and Medium-sized Businesses»

The relevance of considering this issue is due to the fact that, due to the tightening of monetary policy, subsidized commercial loans are becoming the only available means of financing for small and medium-sized businesses. The study examined in detail the regulations governing loan transactions in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The concepts of loan, commodity loan and commercial loan were highlighted. Special attention was paid to the concept of «bank lending on preferential terms». The purpose of this article is to consider the problem of the legal definition of the concept of «concessional lending to small and medium-sized businesses». Conclusions. Despite the fact that article 17 of the Federal Law «On the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Russian Federation» mentions financial support through the provision of subsidies, budget investments, state and municipal guarantees for the obligations of SMEs, it does not include concessional lending as a way of financial support. This means that the legal regulation of lending based solely on subsidizing loans is insufficiently regulated. Despite the widespread use of the term «bank lending on preferential terms», it was revealed that this concept is not defined either in Federal Law No. 209-FZ, nor in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, nor in the relevant by-laws regulating the procedure for granting subsidies to credit organizations. The available definitions in foreign sources, as well as definitions of well-known legal scholars and economists, are analyzed. Based on the identified essential features, a proper definition of this concept is given, describing the specifics of concessional lending, which must be introduced into the new version of the law «On the Development of small and medium-sized Enterprises in the Russian Federation».