customer, or kyc, as we have got used to saying. this platform will make it possible to reduce the number of banks ’ refusals and companies ’ expenses for the communication with banks. clients ’ risks will be assessed not by banks, but by the platform developed by the bank of russia that will classify companies into three risk groups according to the traffic light principle. banks will be able to focus only on the group having these risk signs and on the analysis of the operations of clients involving potentially higher risks. we are going to launch this platform into regular operation at the end of 2021 and then scale it up so as to embrace all credit institutions by the end of 2022 q1. of course, we believe that it will make life easier for smes. we have also discussed how to improve this platform together with you. the second issue is the faster payments system ( fps ). initially, we launched it to enable p2p transfers. we can see that it is highly requested. however, right from the beginning, we have built this system considering the needs of retailers and small businesses and comprehending that this system may help smes cut costs significantly. the fps addresses the issue of high acquiring fees and considerably reduces costs for trade and service companies. in contrast to direct caps on fee amounts, it does not disturb the balance in the market. the fps fees are 2 – 3 times lower than acquiring fees and may not exceed 0. 7 %. another advantage of the fps is that it helps reduce the cash gap since funds transferred via the fps are credited into companies ’ accounts instantaneously. this speeds up the turnover of enterprises ’ funds, which is also essential for business. the third aspect is that the fps is easily deployed. this system requires no additional equipment, and all necessary software may be promptly installed on the already existing 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches terminals and cash desks. installation and debugging take two or three days on average. at the beginning of next year, we will also launch the mobile application of the fps. it will enable any retailers to integrate with the system faster, without the need to create their own apps. moreover, other applications will function as well. we are going to carry out regular training workshops on the fps, with the first one scheduled for 15 december. so, you are welcome to join it. in future, we will hold such events together with opora russia and other business associations.

elvira nabiullina : speech - opora rus governor sia session speech by ms elvira nabiullina, governor of the bank of russia, at the opora rus governor sia session, 3 december 2020. * * * good afternoon, i am happy to welcome you, whether you are now in the kaliningrad region or are video conferencing — this format is becoming quite common now. i hope that this meeting is attended by a large number of participants. indeed, i was listening very attentively and i think that the approach the kaliningrad region is pursuing to develop small and medium - sized businesses is promising and comprehensive. however, we are all very well aware that a lot of projects depend on how accessible funding is — it would be impossible to implement a project when there is no access to funding. today ’ s meeting is very important to me : although the bank of russia influences the economy through the financial sector, the ultimate goal of our work is to ensure that the financial sector helps the economy and people overcome hardships and develop. of course, we have always been concerned about the issues related to the financing of small enterprises. we carry out regular meetings with opora russia president alexander kalinin several times a year to discuss the most topical problems and advance in both the regulation and other areas associated with the development of multiple projects. we do understand that it is rather difficult for small businesses to receive financing even in normal conditions, and in challenging times small and medium - sized enterprises are those who are affected the most. it is hard for small businesses to achieve favourable terms and protect their interests in the course of negotiations with banks. in addition, small, just as medium - sized enterprises are certainly on a budget and they need to have access to both loans and daily financial transactions. normally, we closely monitor sme lending trends. this year, we also put a special focus on loan restructuring since it became highly requested when many companies really lost their revenues and customers. not all companies had safety cushions ; and even large corporates do not always have them. moreover, it is rather hard for small and medium - sized businesses to maintain safety cushions for challenging times. i should stress that this period still differs from the 2014 – 2015 crisis, for instance. sme lending plummeted in 2014 – 2015, while this year the trend is generally positive. of course, it may not fully offset all the hardships small and medium - sized enterprises have to