Sberbank Rossii : Business Class to cover 41 regions and more than 100,000 entrepreneurs

April 24, 2017, Moscow- In 2017-18, Sberbank and Google's free Business Class programme, which aims to develop micro and small business, will cover 41 regions and more than 100,000 entrepreneurs across Russia.

Business Class recently received support from the Russian government. First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, who oversees this area, noted that the programme is highly relevant and should be turned into a nationwide endeavour. Currently there are more than 40,000 entrepreneurs from 13 Russian regions taking part in the programme, including the Republic of Tatarstan and the Chuvash Republic, the Sverdlovsk, Primorsky, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Amur, Magadan, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, and Sakhalin Regions, Jewish Autonomous Region and Chukotka Autonomous Region.

By the end of this year Business Class will be launched in the Novgorod, Vologda, Murmansk, Tyumen, and Omsk Regions, and the Republic of Karelia.

The programme is for beginner and experienced entrepreneurs. It will help experienced businesspeople to analyse and assess the weaknesses of their companies, develop professional skills, optimise their operations and develop business promotion strategies. Beginners can take part in a version of the programme aimed at putting together business plans and building businesses from the ground up.

"We want Russia to have more qualified businesspeople," commented Anatoly Popov, Senior Vice President of Sberbank. "We are already seeing real examples of how Business Class is helping people make their businesses more effective."

"We are delighted that the programme has proved to be popular among Russian businesspeople. As a result, interest in the project is growing and more regions are joining the Business Class programme," commented Yulia Solovyova, Google's Business Director for EMEA. "This demonstrates the relevance of these sorts of initiatives and their importance for developing a small and micro-sized business ecosystem in Russia."

Business Class is available in two formats - online and intensive. The first includes video lessons, practice exercises, webinars and additional materials. The second includes all the modules of the online format as well as mentoring and meetings with experienced experts.