The PHOT 3.0 program, launched in 2021 as part of support for Russian businesses to recover from the effects of coronavirus infection, has saved more than 740,000 jobs. 

This was reported by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, commenting on the words of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that, thanks to the coordinated work of all branches of government, entrepreneurs managed to save collectives, production and jobs in covid. 

According to Tatyana Ilyushnikova, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the last loan agreement under this program was closed in January 2024, and the subsidy to the bank was repaid in March. Thus, the state has fulfilled all obligations to banks and businesses.

 "Thanks to the implementation of this anti-crisis program, 740 thousand jobs were saved during the period of coronavirus restrictions. In total, more than 42 thousand loan agreements were concluded under the program, the amount of support amounted to 146 billion rubles. The implementation of the PHOT 3.0 program is one of the first successful examples of the mutual responsibility of the state and business: the state provides the necessary support, and the company retains jobs," said Tatyana Ilyushnikova. 

The PHOT 3.0 program is one of the first programs built on a targeted, targeted principle. At that time, state support focused on the industries most affected by the spread of coronavirus infection. These are catering, culture, sports and entertainment, event management, and tourism business. 

The most in–demand loan program turned out to be for Moscow businesses - almost 16% of the total volume of contracts were concluded by entrepreneurs of the capital. Among the regional leaders are also the Moscow Region (5%), St. Petersburg (4.9%), Krasnodar Territory (4.7%). The greatest demand for loans was from catering companies – almost 20 thousand loan agreements worth 74.5 billion rubles were concluded. 

Under the program, individual entrepreneurs and legal entities could receive a loan for up to 18 months at a rate of 3% per annum, provided that employment remained at least 90%. At the same time, during the first 6 months, payments on the main debt and interest were excluded, during the next 12 months, the loan was repaid, as well as interest payments. Additionally, borrowers had the opportunity to extend the term of the loan agreement to 6 months in case of receiving a "credit vacation". 

Sberbank, VTB and PSB became the leaders in loans among the banks participating in the program.