MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2020) The Russian government at a meeting on Thursday will discuss compensation of costs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to maintain employment and salaries of their employees amid the spread of the coronavirus infection, the cabinet said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 15 suggested giving small and medium-sized enterprises money for salaries to employees, sending an application for such payments would be available from May 1. Financial support from the state for the salaries of SME employees for April will come from May 18, he said.
"The draft resolution was developed in order to partially compensate the costs of SMEs associated with the implementation of their activities in the worsening situation due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, including the preservation of employment and remuneration of their employees' labor in April and May 2020," the cabinet said.
Russia's overall number of coronavirus cases has nearly reached 58,000. The country's COVID-19 death toll has topped 510. Over 4,420 people have recovered.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus a pandemic. According to the latest WHO data, more than 2,471,000 cases of COVID-19 have been registered in the world, and over 169,000 people have died from the disease.
