6.2.3 Financing of innovative projects

Goals and objectives of the financing system. The development of innovation activities both at the level of an individual enterprise, and at the level of integrated structures and the state as a whole, implies the creation of a coherent and well-founded funding system. Only in this case can the necessary conditions be created for the accumulation and maneuver of financial resources and the possibility of their concentration on key areas of innovation policy.

The basic principles, on the basis of and taking into account which the innovation financing system should be built, should be:

• a clear target orientation of the system - its linkage with the task of quickly and efficiently introducing modern scientific and technical achievements;
• consistency, validity and legal security of the methods and mechanisms used;
• multiple sources of financing;
• the breadth and complexity of the system, i.e. the possibility of covering the widest possible range of technical and technological innovations and the directions of their practical use;
• adaptability and flexibility, implying a constant adjustment of both the entire financing system and its individual elements to changing environmental conditions in order to maintain maximum efficiency.

Currently, the main sources of funds used to finance innovation activities are:

• budget allocations allocated at the federal and regional levels;
• funds of special extrabudgetary funds for financing research and development activities, which are formed by enterprises, regional management bodies;
• own funds of the enterprise (industrial investment from profit and as part of production costs);
• financial resources of various types of commercial structures (investment companies, commercial banks, insurance companies, etc.);
• credit resources of investment banks specially authorized by the government;
• foreign investments of industrial and commercial firms and companies;
• funds of foreign scientific funds;
• private savings of individuals.

Budget allocations. The most important financial source that provides solutions to large-scale scientific and technical problems are the funds of the state budget.

At the expense of budget funds, targeted integrated programs are being carried out, the activities of the SSC are being financed, the RFFN is being formed, as well as the Foundation for Assistance to the Development of Small Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere.

The first of these funds provides funds on an irrevocable basis and sets as its main task the promotion of the development of basic scientific research and the improvement of the scientific qualifications of scientists. To this end, the foundation organizes the examination and competitive selection of research projects, finances selected projects and controls the use of funds allocated for them. The Foundation is a non-profit organization and does not pursue the goal of making a profit. Its funds are formed in rubles, in foreign currency, at the expense of government allocations, voluntary contributions of enterprises, institutions, organizations, and other sources of funds.

This money is used for subsidies (grants) to finance initiative projects of fundamental research conducted by research teams and individual scientists; subsidies to universities for the development of their material and technical base; payment of scholarships to postgraduate students, as well as interns in research centers in Russia and foreign countries.

The Foundation for Assistance to the Development of Small-Scale Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere is called upon to provide financial support and help create small science-intensive firms and innovative engineering centers.

This fund is a state non-profit organization that carries out its activities jointly with the Ministry of Science of Russia and the Federal Fund for Small Business Support.

The main sources of the formation of this fund are budgetary allocations, voluntary contributions from enterprises, institutions, organizations and citizens, and other income from the fund’s activities.

In August 1995, the Federal Fund for Industrial Innovations was created . This fund was established by a resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation in order to provide state support for the most important innovative projects in priority areas of NTP, to study competitive technologies and production, as well as measures for the development of new types of products.

Financial resources intended for the fund will be allocated in a separate line in the Federal Investment Program in the amount of 1.5% of state centralized capital investments.

Off-budget funds and other sources of non-state financing. Such funds can be created in ministries, in large cities and regions, as well as within concerns. The most important sources of the non-state system for financing innovation activities currently are:

• own funds of enterprises;
• funds mobilized by issuing securities;
• commercial bank loans;
• specialized and charitable foundations;
• funds of investment companies, other enterprises and organizations interested in the earliest possible release of new products.

In many cases (especially when it comes to large innovative enterprises), the introduction of constructive and technological innovations is carried out at their own expense (production development fund and depreciation fund). As a rule, the company's charter provides for the allocation of part of the profit remaining at the disposal of the enterprise after taxes, other obligatory payments and the formation of a reserve fund to the development development fund. Development fund funds can be used to update and expand production ^* , to implement research, development and technology projects and programs to develop new types of competitive products, to increase their own working capital, as well as for other purposes that contribute to strengthening the material and technical base of the enterprise. If the company's own funds are not enough, and the organization has a solid scientific and technical reserve, it is possible to resort to an additional issue of securities (secondary issue of shares). This path is available only to enterprises that are organized in the form of closed or open JSCs. It is very important that the funds received during the placement of shares of the new issue are used efficiently and allow the joint stock company to increase the return on capital and the amount of dividend per share at the end of the issue. The need to finance promising innovative projects is one of the factors determining the need for a secondary issue of shares.

A very important place in the financial support of the innovation activity of an enterprise is given (exactly today!) To a commercial loan. This kind of economic relations is constantly evolving and is increasingly using new, non-traditional forms. In this case we are talking about the procedure for issuing a loan, methods of its repayment, organization of banking control over compliance with contractual terms.

Today, practice shows that a bank loan, in contrast to budget financing, improves the efficiency of investment measures and, in a number of cases, may be a more acceptable and convenient method of raising funds for a longer period than issuing corporate shares or placing bond issues.

Financial leasing ^* . This type of financial operations is used primarily when the task of rapid industrial development of large technical innovations ^* is being solved, requiring the acquisition of expensive machines, equipment, computers, vehicles, etc. This is where fundamentally new types of relations between the producer and the consumer have been developed. products based on long-term lease or leasing.

The modern leasing market is one of the most dynamic and constantly evolving. In the USA, for example, the share of leasing accounts for approximately 25-30% of the total amount of capital investments in machinery and equipment.

In modern business practice, leasing is understood as “a type of business activity aimed at investing temporarily free financial resources, when under a financial lease (leasing) agreement a lessor (lessor) undertakes to acquire the property of the contractor’s property from a certain seller and provide this property to the tenant for a fee temporary use for business purposes. "

From an economic point of view, the leasing operation is in many ways similar to long-term lending for the purchase of equipment and other types of fixed production assets. The main advantage of leasing is that if there is a profitable project, the entrepreneur of an innovative enterprise has the opportunity to receive equipment and start a new production without major one-time costs. Today it is especially important for beginners and medium-sized entrepreneurs. Modern leasing firms give the tenant the right to choose the supplier of the equipment he needs, to place an order and to accept the transaction object. Accordingly, one of the most important problems predetermining the development of leasing relations is the substantiation of the amount of leasing payments, which should be equally acceptable to both parties.

The main features of financial leasing that distinguish it from operational leasing (rental), leaseback and a number of its other forms boil down to the following:

1. The participation of a third party - the manufacturer or supplier of the leased transaction object.
2. The object of leasing is, as a rule, new equipment, purposefully acquired for the needs of the lessee.
3. Objects of leasing transactions are of high value.
4. The duration of the leasing agreement is usually close to the service life of the object of the transaction.
5. After the expiration of the contract, the lessee has one of the following possibilities:
   • purchase a transaction object;
   • to conclude a new contract for a shorter period and at a reduced rate;
   • return the object of the transaction to the leasing company.

Strengthening the banking system of our country and further improvement of tax legislation can contribute to an increase in the volume of leasing operations, and therefore, the expansion and strengthening of the technical and technological bases of production.