Introduction to Microfinance Banking

Microfinance is the activity meant to provide basic financial services (lending, saving and many others) to those who are unable to claim for standard bank financial services: poor population, beginner entrepreneurs, immigrants, women and others.

Charity has been used for a very long time as an instrument to help people who can’t provide for their own financial welfare. But the issue with charity is that people don’t develop the necessary stimuli to start earning themselves and then stop getting free financial help. It creates a vicious circle – the money is granted to the poor, they spend it, then they are granted help again as they still can’t provide for themselves.

In the 1970s, an active development of the other tool to finance the population in need, i.e. microfinance, began. People who are unable to claim for the standard financial services are granted with a credit (loan) by specific microfinance companies, which allows them to develop their own business. Therefore, the conditions to ensure the repayment of the granted funds are created, because then people are motivated to work, so they can repay the credit. At the same time, the task of helping to find the way out of an adverse financial situation is resolved. Charity organizations don’t need to be constantly granting money anymore, as microfinance is a self-funding system: loans that, unlike charity funds, have the features of interest payment and recoverability.

Given that microfinance is self-funding, this instrument for fighting poverty became very popular in developing countries. But developed countries also started to create such an approach to finance beginner entrepreneurs’ activity.

Microfinance is a clear example of how social entrepreneurship implies the symbiosis of the social mission and commercial effect. Microfinance techniques are essentially about providing a set of financial and related non-financial services that are economically justified for the microfinance institution. These services are, first of all, provided for the population with low income level that lives in towns or countryside, as well as for the heads of micro-business, so they are able to use these services for their further grown and improvement of life quality [1].

So, the sphere of microfinance is actually unique. Traditional crediting methods don’t really allow working with the previously mentioned categories of customers at a big scale, thanks to the high risks implied in working with them (and, if the demand from the side of solvent clients is present, banks will most likely prefer working with the latter). On the other hand, informal money lenders who are pursuing commercial profits, don’t get the social effect. While granting loans to the previously mentioned groups of clients, in order to provide for the commercial effect, the moneylenders do take almost the entire profit obtained by clients, as a rule, from the use of loaned funds. Therefore, moneylenders only confirm the dependence of the borrowers, get them hooked on “credit needle” and don’t allow a development [2].

The microfinance model includes the use of specially developed procedures for borrower’s risk assessment; its own techniques to grant loans and ensure loan repayment are developed. In addition to this, the scale of interest rates differentiated upon the types of clients allows borrowers to leave a part of profits for their own development, after they repay the debt. The personal approach is used when working with clients.

As early as in 2007 [3], the President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev stated that his Administration made its mission to reduce what was a significant gap in the inclusion of financial services, at that point, and this priority remained ever since. In February 2014, the Bank of Russia became a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion with the goal of exchanging experience and introducing the best practices to increase the inclusion of financial services. In November 2014 it was declared [4] that the Russian Federation joined the “Maya Declaration”, which reflects the priorities and main directions of the Alliance members’ policy that was aimed at causing a growth of the inclusion of financial services. The advantage of the “Maya Declaration” is the opportunity for Alliance members to independently select the priorities to increase the inclusion of financial services, depending on the country’s economic development.

Microfinance in Russia fulfils the role of expanding the financial inclusion, i.e. achievement of the financial market condition under which the legally capable population of the country, as well as subjects of small and medium business (hereinafter referred to as SMB subjects), have the full opportunity to obtain financial services.

The non-bank micro-lending activity started in Russia during the mid-1990s by international NPOs, then Russian ones, state and municipal funds to support the small and medium business, as well as by commercial companies. Most of these creditors issued loans to micro-entrepreneurs, although commercial companies also provided consumer lending. Until 2010, there was no legal definition of microfinance (micro-credit) activity, and companies issued loans according to the Civil Code’s provisions that regulated the loan-issuing activity [5].

Since 2007, when the President D.A. Medvedev considered the reduction of the gap in the access to financial services a priority for his Administration [6], the Government started giving more attention to the measures aimed at developing small and medium business [7] (the important section without access to financing), including passing a special law [8].

At that same time, many existing companies that provided micro-loans realized the need for a more precise definition of their legal status, as various authorities often showed doubts regarding the legal character of their activity. Although the Civil Code gives the right to any legal entity to provide loans, it wasn’t absolutely clear whether lending could be the sole type of a company’s activity [9].

Combining these complementary trends: (1) aspiration of the policy developers to increase the inclusion of MSB subjects to financial services and (2) aspiration of market players to the legal clarity regarding their micro-lending activity in 2010 resulted in the law “On Microfinance Activity” [10].

The activity of microfinance companies was considered an addition to the banking sector, as microfinance companies worked in the segments that weren’t occupied by banks [11]. The explanatory note to the bill declared that microfinance companies and their activity, which was regulated by that law, would possess the social focus (like providing loans to citizens, including those unemployed, for the development of their own business, purchase of equipment, advanced training of employees, expansion of the spectrum and improvement of the quality of products and services offered to customers) and to give loans “for small business and the population experiencing difficulties with the access to financial services” [12].

The legal grounds of the microfinance activity in Russia are determined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law dating from 02.07.2010 No. 151-FZ “On Microfinance Activity and Microfinance Companies” [13] (hereinafter referred to as Law 151-FZ), other federal laws, as well as regulations passed according to them.

The Law 151-FZ defines microfinance as the activity of legal entities with the status of a microfinance company, as well as other legal entities with the right of exercising microfinance activity, following the clause 3 of Law 151-FZ, on granting micro-loans, i.e. loans in the amount not exceeding 1 million roubles. The right to exercise microfinance activity according to clause 3 of Law 151-FZ belongs to both the microfinance companies, incorporated and acting according to Law 151-FZ and the credit companies, credit cooperatives, pawnshops, building societies, and other legal entities: they exercise microfinance activity according to the law of the Russian Federation that regulates the activity of such legal entities. Non-bank financial companies that exercise microfinance activity bear the general name of non-bank professional lenders (hereinafter referred to as NPL).

In particular, the specificities of the legal position of microfinance companies (MFC) are determined by the Law 151-FZ, specificities of the legal position of credit consumer cooperatives (CCC) – by the Federal Law dating from 18.07.2009 No. 190-FZ “On Credit Cooperation” [14] (hereinafter referred to as Law 190-FZ) (not applied to agricultural credit consumer cooperatives), specificities of the legal position of agricultural credit consumer cooperatives (hereinafter referred to as ACCC) – by the Federal Law dated 08.12.1995 No. 193-FZ “On Agricultural Cooperation” [15].

Despite the fact that according to Law 151-FZ microfinance activity can be exercised not only by MFC and CCC, but also by credit companies, pawnshops, building societies and other legal entities, it’s MFC and CCC that currently represent the Russian microfinance market.

According to the Law 151-FZ, a microfinance company (hereinafter referred to as MFC) is a legal entity registered as a fund, autonomous non-profit organization, institution (except a public institution), non-profit partnership, business company or association that exercises microfinance activity and is registered in the state register of microfinance companies in the order provided by the Law 151-FZ.

According to the Law 190-FZ, a credit cooperative/credit consumer cooperative (hereinafter referred to as CCC) is a voluntary association of individuals and (or) legal entities on the basis of membership and on the territorial, professional and (or) other principles for the goal of satisfying the financial needs of credit cooperative’s members (shareholders).

The share of MFC in the quantitative structure of the NPL market as of 31.03.2015 is 21.8% (3859 items); CCC – 20.1% (3544, including within SROs CCC – 1632); ACCC – 9.7% (1708). Pawnshops are the leaders and comprise 47.9% (8470) of the NPL market while creating societies (also supervised by the NPL of the Bank of Russia) comprise only 0.5% of the market. At year-end 2014 the accumulated volume of MFC, CCC and pawnshops market was around 131 bln roubles: 57 bln roubles, 53 bln roubles and 21 bln roubles respectively [16].

As of 01.04.2015, from 20 bln roubles of micro-loans given by MFC to SMB subjects, 12.9 bln roubles comprise the portfolio of micro-loans given by state (regional and municipal) MFC. The Ministry of Economic Development provides subsidies to regions which direct these funds to state (regional and municipal) MFC, following the principles of co-financing [17].

SME Bank, OJSC implements the “Financial Support Program for SMB subjects” – this includes concessional financing for banks, leasing and factoring companies, microfinance institutions (microfinance companies and credit cooperatives of the first and second levels). Within this program, we should be especially aware of the product of micro-lending (microcredit of up to 3 mill roubles) for SMB subjects achieved through banks, the product of microfinancing (micro-loan of up to 1 mill roubles) of SMB subjects realized through microfinance companies and credit cooperatives of both the first and second levels. SME Bank, OJSC started supporting SMB through microfinance institutions in 2009. The portfolio of microcredits in the program partner banks dating from 01.04.2015 was 2411.7 mill roubles, the portfolio of micro-loans in the program partner MFCs was 953.0 mill roubles (as of 01.01.2015 – 2337.0 and 1051.0 mill roubles respectively) [18].

If comparing them with bank lending, the volumes of the MFC, CCC and pawnshop market remain small: about 0.3% from the accumulated bank portfolio (38374 bln roubles as of 01.04.2015), although the number of MFCs, CCCs and pawnshops is 20 times as much as the number of credit companies with the right of exercising bank transactions (824 as of 01.04.2015).

Three separate segments are distinguished in the microfinance market (Table 1):

– microloans to SMB subjects;

– “payday loans” to individuals (PDL); and

– micro-loans to individuals for consumer purposes.

The target audience of the first two segments is very different from the typical clients of credit companies. MFCs are mostly oriented to granting loans to beginner entrepreneurs and “payday loans” (“payday loans” mean loans to individuals that comply two criteria: the loan amount is no more than 45 thousand roubles and the loan payment term is no more than two months) imply simplified procedures.

Table 1

The amount of the Microfinance and Credit Cooperation Market in 2014, bln roubles

Date	01.01.2014	01.07.2014	01.10.2014	01.01.2015
Source Indicators	Estimation by Expert RA, RMC and NPMMS (May 2014) [19] * Estimation by the Bank of Russia (May 2015) [20]	Estimation by RMC and NPMMS (October 2014)** Estimation by Expert RA, RMC and NPMMS (October 2014) [21] *	Estimation by RMC and NPMMS (October 2014)** Estimation by the Bank of Russia (May 2015) [22]	Estimation by Expert RA (March 2015) [23] * Estimation by the Bank of Russia (May 2015) [24]
MFC portfolio	39	46*	50** / 52	50* / 57
Portfolio of MFC loans to SMB subjects	16 (42%)*	18 (39%)*	20 (40%)**	18.5 (37%)*
Portfolio of MFS loans to individuals (“consumer” loans except “payday loans” (PDL))	18 (45%)*	22 (48%)*	23 (46%)**	23.7 (48%)*
MFC “Payday loan” (PDL) portfolio	5 (13%)*	6 (13%)*	7 (14%)**	7.6 (15%)*
CCC Portfolio	34	36**	43	53
Pawnshop Portfolio	N/d	N/d	N/d	21

Note: NPMMS is the National Partnership of Microfinance Market Stakeholders.

The number of pawnshop clients reached 4.84 mill people, MFC – 2.49 mill people, CCC – 1.24 mill people [25]. It should be noted that, although it was planned that during the formation of the legal MFC regulation the NPL services would “supplement” bank products, some surveys of MFC and CCC clients [26] demonstrate that the situation differs in various regions, but sometimes up to 100% MFC clients use or have ever used bank credits (including in the segment of SMB subjects).

It’s mainly related to the fact that formation of the “payday loan” segment (in which the bad credit discipline of borrowers is detected, this being often related to the presence of “high debt ratio” in other credit and non-credit companies) became the side effect of the Law 151-FZ. Many companies that grant loans to individuals and pursue purely commercial purposes of gaining profits (and sometimes “extra profits”) registered as MFC only to gain advertising advantages, to attract customers. This became possible due to the fact that the law uses only quantitative indicator (1 mill roubles) to define the micro-loan, without the link to the company’s social mission – for instance, rendering services to beginner entrepreneurs or the entrepreneurs who for some reasons, are unable to obtain loans in banks, to the population from remote and hard-to-reach territories, to the rural population, to the disadvantaged population, to clients without a credit history or with a troubled credit history etc.

The regulator works on this issue from the place of protecting MFC and CCC customer’s rights and providing additional advantages to companies that grant business loans. So, since July 1, 2014 the Federal Law dating from 21.12.2013 No. 353-FZ “On Customer Credit (Loan)” has been in force [27] and the Federal Law dating from 21.12.2013 No. 363-FZ “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation and invalidating certain provisions of legislative acts of the RF connected with adoption of the Federal law “On consumer credit (loan)” [28]. These laws regulate the relationships of microfinance market players that are connected to granting consumer loans to individuals and introduce some limitations for this activity.

On the other hand, the regulator tries to support the provision of business loans – for instance, by increasing the maximum business loan amount (from 1 mill roubles to 3 mill roubles) and regulating the principle of prudential regulation while considering the risk-oriented approach.

As for the first measure – the increase of the maximum microloan amount – suggestions were given by market players themselves, as early as 2014. So, on May 8, 2014 the State Duma of the Russian Federation received the Bill on amendments for Law 151-FZ suggesting the increase of the limited microloan amount of up to 3 mill roubles [29]. Its initiator is the Legislative Assembly of Zabaykalsky Krai. On 14.10.2014 this bill was declined by the State Duma of the FA RF [30].

Allow us to recall that, despite the presence of the definition for “microloan”, all MFCs and CCCs (as in the Law 190-FZ, the concept of microloan doesn’t even exist) have the right to exercise other activities, including to grant loans of more than 1 mill roubles. And paragraph 3 part 1 of article 9 of the Law 151-FZ clearly states that a microfinance company is entitled to execute, along with the microfinance activity, any other activity, including providing other loans in the order established by federal laws and incorporation documents. The sole exemption from it can be loans from federal and regional funds to co-finance the federal budget, from regional and municipal microfinance companies which, besides the federal law, are regulated by the provisions of the Decree of the Ministry of RF Economic Development No. 411 dating from 01.07.2014 (and earlier versions of the Decree for the budget funds obtained earlier). They are subject to the limitation of the maximum loan amount under the microfinance program which is 1 mill roubles. In the early days, before 2014, there was a limit for the period as well – no more than 1 year, but now the period has increased up to 3 years. Therefore, more state MFCs will mainly get direct profits from the increase of the maximum business microloan amount.

Currently, on June 22, 2015, the Russian Federation Presidential Council for Codification and Improvement of the Civil Legislation approved [31] the bill of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation [32], according to which it’s suggested to increase the maximum microloan amount for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs up to 3 mill roubles.

Regarding the second measure, the Bank of Russia is planning to determine certain sectors with increased risk (for example, MFCs engaged in consumer lending and MFCs that attract loaned funds of individuals (companies that don’t attract such funds are supposed to fall under the category of “microloan companies”)). When it comes to these increased risk sectors, some higher requirements will be introduced to their activity (for instance, regarding the MFCs engaged in the consumer lending, it’s planned to introduce the increased requirement to the ratio of own funds). Moreover, there is a plan to reform the existing financial ratios to make them more flexible - considering the changing situation and chances for the prudential supervision that allows to detect risks at its early stages.

To reach some conclusions, it should be noted microfinance as the perspective instrument that allows the access of the “financially excluded” classes of society and entrepreneurs to loaned funds, also playing the role of expanding the financial inclusion. The Russian microfinance sector is still under construction; its potential is still not exhausted. Moreover, under the recent conditions of lending limited by the Russian banking sector (especially regarding SMB subjects), the sector of non-bank professional lenders continues to grow, partially replenishing the lack of loaned funds from banks.

[1] Russian Microfinance Center, Citi Foundation. (2012). Otsenka sotsial'nogo vozdeystviya rossiyskkh MFO [Estimation of the Social Effect of the Russian MFC]. Retrieved from: http://rmcenter.ru/

[2]Russian Microfinance Center, Citi Foundation. (2012). Otsenka sotsial'nogo vozdeystviya rossiyskkh MFO [Estimation of the Social Effect of the Russian MFC]. Retrieved from: http://rmcenter.ru/

[3] Poslaniye Pryezidyenta Rossiyskoy Fyedyeratsii Dmitriya Myedvyedyeva Fyedyeral’nogo sobraniyu Rossiyskoy Fyedyeratsii [The Address of President Dmitry Medvedev to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation] (November 5, 2007). Retrieved from http://kremlin.ru/

[4]Maya Declaration: The AFI network commitment to financial inclusion (2014, November).

Retrieved from: http://www.afi-global.org/

^[5] Russian Microfinance Center, Bankable Frontier Associates. (2014) Finansovaya dostupnost' i svyazi s finansovoy stabil'nost'yu, finansovoy tselostnost'yu i zatschitoy potrebiteley: Vzglyad na rossiyskiy opyt [Financial Inclusion and Connections with Financial Stability, Financial Integrity and Protection of Customers: Russian Experience]. Retrieved from: http://bankablefrontier.com/

^[6] Poslaniye Pryezidyenta Rossiyskoy Fyedyeratsii Dmitriya Myedvyedyeva Fyedyeral’nogo sobraniyu Rossiyskoy Fyedyeratsii [The Address of President Dmitry Medvedev to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation] (November 5, 2007). Retrieved from http://kremlin.ru/

^[7] Russian Microfinance Center, Bankable Frontier Associates. (2014) Finansovaya dostupnost' i svyazi s finansovoy stabil'nost'yu, finansovoy tselostnost'yu i zatschitoy potrebiteley: Vzglyad na rossiyskiy opyt [Financial Inclusion and Connections with Financial Stability, Financial Integrity and Protection of Customers: Russian Experience]. Retrieved from: http://bankablefrontier.com/

^[8] Federal Law dated 24.07.2007 No. 209-FZ “O razvitii malogo i srednego predprinimatel'stva v Rossiyskoy Federatsii” [“On Development of Small and Medium Entrepreneurship in the Russian Federation”] (As amended on 29.06.2015).

^[9] Russian Microfinance Center, Bankable Frontier Associates. (2014) Finansovaya dostupnost' i svyazi s finansovoy stabil'nost'yu, finansovoy tselostnost'yu i zatschitoy potrebiteley: Vzglyad na rossiyskiy opyt [Financial Inclusion and Connections with Financial Stability, Financial Integrity and Protection of Customers: Russian Experience]. Retrieved from: http://bankablefrontier.com/

^[10] Ibid.

^[11] Russian Microfinance Center, Bankable Frontier Associates. (2014) Finansovaya dostupnost' i svyazi s finansovoy stabil'nost'yu, finansovoy tselostnost'yu i zatschitoy potrebiteley: Vzglyad na rossiyskiy opyt [Financial Inclusion and Connections with Financial Stability, Financial Integrity and Protection of Customers: Russian Experience]. Retrieved from: http://bankablefrontier.com/

^[12] Explanatory Note “K proektu Federal'nogo zakona No 359066-5 “O mikrofinansovoy deyatel'nosti i mikrofinansovykh organizatsiyakh” [“To the Project of the Federal Law No 359066-5 "On Microfinance Activity and Microfinance Companies”].

^[13] Federal Law dated 02.07.2010 No. 151-FZ “O mikrofinansovoy deyatel'nosti i mikrofinansovykh kompaniyakh” [“On Microfinance Activity and Microfinance Companies”] (As amended on 29.06.2015).

^[14] Federal Law dated 18.07.2009 No. 190-FZ “O kreditnoy kooperatsii” [“On Credit Cooperation”] (As amended on 29.06.2015).

^[15] Federal Law dated 08.12.1995 No. 193-FZ “O sel'skokhozyastvennoy kooperatsii” [“On Agricultural Cooperation”] (As amended on 20.04.2015).

^[16] Mamuta, М.V. (2015, May 18). Razvitie rynka mikrofinansirovaniya: vzglyad Banka Rossii [Development of Microfinance Market: the View of the Bank of Russia] (Presentation at the Conference “Actual Microfinance Issues: Strategies of Survival and Development in the Modern Economic Reality”, Moscow).

^[17] Data of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation provided upon request.

^[18] Data of the SME Bank, provided upon request.

^[19] Rating Agency RAEX. (2014, June). Obzor rynka MFO v 2013 godu: smena orientirov [Review of the MFC Market in 2013: Change of Focuses]. Retrieved from: http://www.raexpert.ru/

^[20] Mamuta, М.V. (2015, May 18). Razvitie rynka mikrofinansirovaniya: vzglyad Banka Rossii [Development of Microfinance Market: the View of the Bank of Russia] (Presentation at the Conference “Actual Microfinance Issues: Strategies of Survival and Development in the Modern Economic Reality”, Moscow).

^[21] Rating Agency RAEX. (2014, October). Rynok Mikrofinansirovaniya v 1 polugodii 2014 goda: period adaptatsii [Microfinance Market in the 1st half of 2014: Adaptation Period]. Retrieved from: http://www.raexpert.ru/

^[22] Mamuta, М.V. (2015, May 18). Razvitie rynka mikrofinansirovaniya: vzglyad Banka Rossii [Development of Microfinance Market: the View of the Bank of Russia] (Presentation at the Conference “Actual Microfinance Issues: Strategies of Survival and Development in the Modern Economic Reality”, Moscow).

^[23] Rating Agency RAEX. (2015). "RA Ekspert": portfel' zaymov MFO za 2014 god vyros na 28% [RA Expert (RAEX): MFC Loan Portfolio Has Grown by 28% in 2014]. Retrieved from: http://www.raexpert.ru/; Samiev, P.А. (2015, May 18). Rynok MFO v 2014 godu: Pritormozili [MFC Market in 2014: Slowed Down] (Presentation at the Conference “Actual Microfinance Issues: Strategies of Survival and Development in the Modern Economic Reality”, Moscow).Retrieved from: http://www.rmcenter.ru/

^[24] Mamuta, М.V. (2015, May 18). Razvitie rynka mikrofinansirovaniya: vzglyad Banka Rossii [Development of Microfinance Market: the View of the Bank of Russia] (Presentation at the Conference “Actual Microfinance Issues: Strategies of Survival and Development in the Modern Economic Reality”, Moscow).

^[25] Mamuta, М.V. (2015, May 18). Razvitie rynka mikrofinansirovaniya: vzglyad Banka Rossii [Development of Microfinance Market: the View of the Bank of Russia] (Presentation at the Conference “Actual Microfinance Issues: Strategies of Survival and Development in the Modern Economic Reality”, Moscow); The data on the MFC number is corrected.

^[26] For example: Russian Microfinance Center, Citi Foundation. (2012). Otsenka sotsial'nogo vozdeystviya rossiyskkh MFO [Estimation of the Social Effect of the Russian MFC]. Retrieved from: http://rmcenter.ru/; Russian Microfinance Center, Financial Department, SME Bank. (2013, October). Rynok mikrozaymov dlya malogo i srednego biznesa: banki vs. Mikrofinansovye organizatsii. [Market of Microloans for Small and Medium Business: Banks vs. Microfinance Companies]. Retrieved from: http://arb.ru/

^[27]Federal Law dated 21.12.2013 No. 353-FZ “O potrebitel'skom kredite (zayme)” [“On Consumer Credit (Loan)”] (As amended on 21.07.2014).

^[28] Federal Law dated 21.12.2013 No. 363-FZ “O vnesenii izmeneniy v otdel'nye zakonodatel'nye akty Rossiyskoy Federatsii i priznanii utrativshimi silu otdel'nykh polozheniy zakondatel'nykh aktov Rossiyskoy Federatsii v svyazi s prinyatiem Federal'nogo zakona “O potrebitel'skom kredite (zayme)” [“On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation and invalidating certain provisions of legislative acts of the RF in connection with adoption of the Federal law “On consumer credit (loan)”]. (As amended on 28.06.2014).

^[29] Explanatory Note to the Bill of the Federal Law “O vnesenii izmeneniy v stat'i 2 i 12 Federal'nogo zakona “O mikrofinansovoy deyatel'nosti i mikrofinansovykh organizatsiyakh” [“On amendments to articles 2 and 12 of the Federal Law “On Microfinance Activity and Microfinance Companies”].

^[30] Passport of the Bill of the Federal Law No. 516130-6 “O vnesenii izmeneniy v stat'i 2 i 12 Federal'nogo zakona “O mikrofinansovoy deyatel'nosti i mikrofinansovykh organizatsiyakh” [“On amendments to articles 2 and 12 of the Federal Law “On Microfinance Activity and Microfinance Companies”] (in the part of the increase of the maximum microloan amount).

^[31] Dementyeva, К., Iskusova, А. (2015, June 23). Microcredits for companies will be increased [Predpriyatiyam uvelichat mikrokredity]. Newspaper “Kommersant”, 108, 8.

^[32] Bill of the Federal Law dated 01.04.2015 “O vnesenii izmeneniy v stat'i 2 i 12 Federal'nogo zakona “O mikrofinansovoy deyatel'nosti i mikrofinansovykh organizatsiyakh” [“On amendments to articles 2 and 12 of the Federal Law “On Microfinance Activity and Microfinance Companies”].