Norilsk Nickel will finance nine business projects aimed at improving the quality of life of Norilsk residents. 48 million rubles will be allocated for this in the form of interest-free loans for a period of one and a half to three years, according to sgnorilsk.ru.
For five months, the company conducted an educational program for beginners and experienced entrepreneurs. They formed their own business projects, received support and advice, and during trainings and webinars discussed the conditions for business development. The result of the educational program was an investment session, during which entrepreneurs presented their business projects.
Nine of them – in the field of medicine, tourism and services - will receive funding from Norilsk Nickel.
"The participants of the investment session demonstrated a high level of promising and cost-effective business projects. The Expert Council approved more than 50% of all applications, which indicates competent preparation and high-quality results of the preliminary educational program. Financing in the form of interest–free loans was requested by entrepreneurs mainly to expand and scale the existing business, while startups are also represented among the recipients of the loan," said Irina Zhuikova, director of the Social Policy Department of Norilsk Nickel.
The total number of applications received for the program exceeded 130. It was evaluated by an expert jury with the participation of representatives of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Business School of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
"The educational and acceleration support programs carried out within the framework of the charity program "World of New Opportunities" of Norilsk Nickel are the largest in Russia both in terms of the numerical coverage of the business sector in the regions of the company's presence and in terms of the volume of returnable financing provided. This is also shown by the result of the current course: hundreds of entrepreneurs and tens of millions of financial support," said Dmitry Bogdanov, Vice President of the Business School.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
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