Acceptance of applications for the Governor's Start contest (https://mribi.ru/grantgubern ) extended for a week – up to and including March 4. This proposal was made today at a meeting of the government of the Murmansk region by the Minister of Tourism and Entrepreneurship of the region Marta Govor.
"We understand that the temporary lack of electricity supply due to the accident on the Rosseti lines has also affected our potential applicants. In order for everyone to have time to prepare the documents, we propose to extend the acceptance of applications until March 4," Marta Govor explained.
The head of the region, Andrey Chibis, supported this initiative.
The Governor's Start program is being implemented as part of the governor's plan "To live in the North." It not only expands business horizons, but also stimulates the creation of new jobs, strengthening the region's economy. Over the 6 years of the program, almost 400 additional jobs have been created in the Murmansk Region, and over 190 projects with total funding of more than 230 million rubles have been supported.
At a government meeting, Minister Marta Govor presented a report on measures to support small businesses in the Murmansk Region. Among the measures most in demand among entrepreneurs are preferential microloans from the state microfinance organization FORMAP. In 2025, entrepreneurs were provided with more than 300 microloans totaling over 480 thousand rubles.
"The Fund's preferential microfinance program has helped many Arctic entrepreneurs in difficult times, and this support was especially necessary during the period of a sharp increase in the key rate of the Bank of Russia," commented Marta Govor.
On behalf of Governor Andrey Chibis, in 2026 the category of entrepreneurs who can benefit from preferential loans from the FORMAP Fund will be expanded. It will include entrepreneurs with children under the age of 5, as well as entrepreneurs with a certificate confirming the status of a large family.
Along with the Governor's Start program and FORMAP microloans, a whole range of measures to support SMEs continues to operate in the region in 2026. Thus, the My Business Center provides non-financial support to entrepreneurs and citizens who want to start their own business. In order to increase entrepreneurial activity and increase production volumes, the "Growth Platform" program continues to be implemented, which allows receiving support for promotion in the e-commerce market, in particular on the Wildberries site. In 2026, the subjects of the region's tourism industry will continue to receive support under the national project "Tourism and Hospitality", as well as through regional subsidies for the development of domestic and inbound tourism.
As part of the educational support for business, Governor Andrey Chibis instructed the Ministry of Tourism and Entrepreneurship to organize a large-scale intensive course for entrepreneurs on the use of artificial intelligence technologies.
/ Ministry of Tourism and Entrepreneurship of the Murmansk Region /