From bakeries to beauty shops, Russian businesses are feeling the pain
from a new wartime tax policy
[February 23, 2026] By
DASHA LITVINOVA
Denis Maksimov’s bakery in suburban Moscow became famous overnight after
he appeared on President Vladimir Putin’s annual call-in show in
December.
Standing in front of the bakery — called Mashenka, after his oldest
daughter -– he pleaded with Putin via video to look into new tax reforms
that are significantly increasing the burden on small businesses like
his.
“We understand very well that it’s not an easy situation for the
country. We understand that raising taxes is necessary,” Maksimov said.
“We’re looking ahead without optimism, frankly speaking. Many
(businesses) will close down.”
As Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine marks four years, the mounting
pressure on Russia’s economy is starting to show. Oil revenues are
dwindling, the budget deficit is up, and military spending that fueled
robust growth has leveled off.
The Kremlin is now tapping consumers and small businesses for funds. The
value-added tax has been raised by 2% and revenue thresholds for
requiring businesses to pay it have been lowered drastically.
Ordinary Russians appear to be feeling the pain. Business owners
interviewed by The Associated Press described a steady decline in demand
for their goods and services, a sudden increase in costs as suppliers
adjust to the tax reform, and a tax burden that's now tens of times
higher. Some said they downsized to keep operating, while others closed.
A recent video on social media showed the economic fallout: Vacant
commercial spaces on St. Petersburg's main street, Nevsky Prospekt,
where shop after shop went out of business.
“I’ve never felt so scared as this year, so unprotected, so anxious,”
said Darya Demchenko, who owns a chain of beauty salons in Russia's
second largest city.
A failed plea
Maksimov’s plea to Putin failed to reverse the tax reform, which lowered
the threshold for requiring businesses to pay VAT from 60 million
rubles, or $783,000, in annual sales revenue, to 20 million rubles
($261,000) this year and to 10 million rubles ($130,500) by 2028.
The revenue threshold was similarly lowered for those using the “patent
taxation system,” in which small businesses made fixed annual payments —
usually only tens of thousands of rubles — instead of a percentage of
their revenues or profits. This year, those whose revenues exceed 20
million rubles would need to pay at least a 6% tax on their revenues,
and at least a 5% VAT.
In their televised exchange, Maksimov said he had been using the patent
system for eight years, and Putin responded by underscoring the need for
tax reform to tackle “uncontrolled” illegal imports but promised to look
at what can be done.
Maksimov's appearance attracted attention and new customers to Mashenka,
which has three bakeries in the Moscow region. It had sent a basket of
baked goods to the Kremlin and boasts on its website that Putin “tried
our pies.”
Russian media quoted Maksimov as saying sales rose for a while, but
without a change in tax policy, he contemplated closing.
Putin raised Mashenka’s case at a government meeting last month, and
Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov proposed measures allowing Maksimov’s
business to be exempt from paying VAT and lower his other taxes. Shortly
after, the owner said he wasn’t considering closing down.
“I think we will grow, maybe slower than before, but no less
confidently, I think,” Maksimov told AP this month. He admitted,
however, that he's still waiting for authorities to adopt the proposed
measures. It's unclear when that will happen.
Others follow suit
Maksimov’s case caused an outcry among other small and medium
entrepreneurs. In an online campaign “We Are Mashenka,” started by the
Association of Beauty Industry Enterprises, business owners across
Russia raised similar cases, noting that unlike Maksimov, who was lucky
to get Putin's ear, they had no one to bail them out.
Demchenko, who supported the campaign, told AP that of four
family-oriented beauty salons in her chain — three of her own and one
opened through a franchise -– she had to close one and sell another to
stay afloat due to the dramatically increased taxes and other costs, as
well as lagging demand.
[to top of second column] |
Denis Maksimov poses for a photo in the sales area of his bakery
outside Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP
Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
 The tax reforms meant she was no
longer eligible for the patent system and was looking at paying much
higher taxes, as well as having to hire a full-time accountant to
handle the paperwork, she said. Her costs — such as rent, supplies,
security and banking services — spiked 30%, she added, noting
suppliers raised their prices well over the 2% VAT increase.
Demand for beauty services, meanwhile, has been falling for months.
Russia’s restrictions on social media and messaging platforms
deprived her of cheap advertising and easy ways to reach clients,
Demchenko said.
The beauty industry weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, with
government support like tax breaks and deferments, as well as ways
to negotiate with landlords to waive rent for a while.
“This year, we haven’t felt any support at all. We feel like they
want to shut us down,” she said.
Shuttered businesses
Lyalya Sadykova, president of the Association of Beauty Industry
Enterprises, said about 10% of beauty industry businesses in St.
Petersburg closed and another 10% sold their companies in December
and January. She anticipates more closures this spring.
“People will do the math. The first deadline for taxes is in April,
and people will see that they have nothing to pay with, and that’s
when the collapse will begin,” she said. “I think there will be
bankruptcies, and mass exodus from the market, because now it seems
to me that not everyone has done the math and understood it.”
When the tax reforms were adopted last year, pastry shop owners
Ilsiya Gizatullina and Railya Shayhieva and decided to shut down
their business in Kazan. Like Demchenko, they cited the massive tax
increases, rising costs and falling demand.
It was an incredibly hard decision, “like cutting off a body part.
Because we lived there, it was our life, 24/7,” Gizatullina told AP.
They opened in 2020 and survived the pandemic, which Gizatullina
noted was only temporary. The new tax system is here to stay.
“We understand very well that it won’t be abolished the day after
tomorrow, and there will likely be an even higher tax burden in the
future,” Gizatullina said.
As part of the reforms, more businesses will be paying increased
taxes in 2027 and 2028, since changes will affect those with even
lower revenues.
Growing pressure
Small and medium enterprises account for just over 20% of Russia’s
economy, but it’s still significant, says Chris Weafer, CEO of
Macro-Advisory Ltd. Consultancy. Increasing the application of VAT
to those businesses will mean “a meaningful amount” of money for the
state budget.
It is “a deliberate strategy by the Finance Ministry to create more
stable, predictable sources of income” at a time when oil revenues
are down and the budget deficit is up, Weafer said.
Small and medium enterprises have been under pressure since 2014,
when Russia faced sanctions over its illegal annexation of the
Crimean Peninsula, and the government directed most of its support
to big companies. The new tax regulations add to the pressure,
Weafer said, and while that's unlikely to wreck the economy, it will
impede growth when the war ends.
“The one engine of expansion and growth and innovation that you need
in an economy is the sector that has suffered most in the last four
years and is continuing to suffer today,” he said.
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