Financing innovation activity

Chapter 4. Financing and evaluating the effectiveness of innovations

Any innovation process requires the allocation of certain financial resources for its implementation. Small, medium and even large companies often face the problem of insufficient funding for innovative projects. There are three main obstacles to the accumulation of financial resources:

1) the planned innovation may be so risky, and future income so unpredictable, that the company’s management refuses to finance the project from its own funds.

2) if a company plans to finance innovation with borrowed funds, and profits from the project are expected only in the long term, it seems quite difficult to convince the lender of the potential of the innovative project.

3) a situation may arise when an investor allocates funds for a specific project, and the company’s management decides to use these borrowed funds to partially finance another innovation. As a result, at the project implementation stage there are insufficient funds and one of the areas is closed.

In order to find a solution to the financial shortage, it is necessary to turn to the study of existing sources of financing innovation activities.

By origin, sources of financing innovation can be divided into internal and external.

Internal sources . There are several options for using a company's internal funds to finance innovative projects.

1) One of the main sources is retained earnings companies. retained earnings remains after payment from net profit dividends on shares. However, many firms, especially start-ups, do not have sufficient profits to finance innovation.

2) Another opportunity is represented by the company’s existing assets. Formed to implement the same projects, these assets can be used based on the principle of synergy. For example, a company Chrysler(“Chrysler”) increased the share of using its own funds when implementing the next innovative project to produce a new minivan model through the use of technologies and components it already had. The most important engine and transmission components were taken from the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon models.

3) The company can also increase its short-term liabilities(usually accounts payable) as a source of financing for innovative projects.

4) The last internal source is reduction accounts receivable (reduction of the share, in particular, due to the sale of the right to foreclose).

External sources . The company can raise additional funds either through increase in share capital(additional issue of shares), or by receiving borrowed funds.

Borrowing funds to finance innovation activities can be carried out by receiving loans And bond issue. IN general view lending by banks and investment funds may be specialized (design) And corporate. If you use the form project lending financial resources are provided for a specific project based on the business plan submitted by the borrower, and the lender exercises full control over the use of the allocated funds. Interest rates on such loans, as well as decisions on terms and repayment schedules, coverage options and collateral for loans are determined in each specific case depending on many factors (bank credit policy, type of company, characteristics of the innovative project, etc.).

The bank may also decide to lend to the company as a whole - corporate lending, regardless of the direction of use of funds.

Additional issue of ordinary and preferred shares allows the company to quickly attract financial capital and limit the amount of external debt. It can be carried out in the form public offering and targeted placement among individuals and companies. The first form is characteristic of companies that are already stable on the market and have an established reputation.

Second form - target placement- more typical for very young firms and venture capital companies. In this case, private investment companies or funds become the main buyers of their shares.

The investors are companies with a diversified investment portfolio, which contains a certain proportion of high-risk investments. This pension funds, private investment funds, banks, insurance companies. Non-financial institutions - companies and individuals - can also act as investors. Due to the fact that the above-mentioned investors do not always have a complete understanding of the innovative projects in which they invest, they may rely on an intermediary.

The innovative nature of the development of the modern world economy leads to increased uncertainty in the conditions for making investment decisions as a result of tougher competition and reduction life cycle many types of products. For the Russian economy, the development of innovative activity is not only an objective necessity, but also a factor for survival in the market of the international division of labor.

Currently, one of the main factors hindering the development of innovation processes in Russia is the shortage of investment resources to finance research and development in high-tech sectors of the economy and the further implementation of their results in production. Russia lags significantly behind the industrialized countries of the West and even some BRIC countries in terms of investment in the innovation sector.

Problems of investing in innovative activities in Russia modern stage are complicated by the fact that there is no real effective support for innovation processes from the state.

So, total expenses in Russia in the last decade, R&D did not exceed 1.0-1.1% of GDP per year, while in the USA, Japan and Germany - leaders in the field of high technology - this figure was at least 2.5-3% annually GDP.

Currently, the state is trying to increase funding for the innovation sector. Volumes are growing budget financing innovation, a system is being formed state institutions support for knowledge-intensive enterprises and industries at the federal level, such as Rusnano, Russian Venture Company. However, the state’s capabilities are clearly insufficient to ensure rapid growth high-tech production due to limited budget resources.

The versatility of innovation activity (including generating ideas, creating new products, using new raw materials, developing new technologies, forming new organizational structures and development of new markets) and varying degrees of possible results innovation process require various options innovation activity and determine the variety of sources of its financing.

In the system of financial support for innovative economic development, an important place belongs, as already noted, to budget financing. Since budget money is, first of all, long-term money, only with the help of these funds can projects with long payback periods or not payback at all be implemented. In almost all cases where large-scale investments are needed and payback periods are long, budget financing is absolutely necessary.

In addition, budget funds can be redistributed between industries and regions due to the need to develop priority areas and budgetary incentives for innovation.

Financing of innovation activities from the budget should be carried out in accordance with the goals and priorities of the state innovation policy and be used to solve large-scale scientific and technical projects, as well as to support medium and small innovative entrepreneurship.

In reality, the role of budgetary stimulation of innovation activity is largely determined by economic and political factors and the role of the state in society. At present, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation allocates budget funds not to finance the innovative development of the country, but to reserve funds placed abroad.

The epicenter of innovation investment has moved from the public sector to the level of individual companies and enterprises. Innovative activities can be carried out not only by generators of innovative ideas. Many companies may participate in these activities as portfolio or even direct investors.

The financial crisis revealed deep problems and contradictions in the Russian economy, its unpreparedness for the challenges of globalization. By the end of 2009, a course was formulated for the modernization of the economy, as well as a course for the innovative path of economic development; within the framework of this course, the “Strategy of the Russian Federation in the field of development of science and innovation for the period until 2015” was developed and adopted. The financial market should play an important role in the implementation of this course.

Financial crises always mean a sharp increase in risks and uncertainty for entrepreneurs in future investment projects, and the disappearance of trust between creditors and debtors. For these reasons, it is impossible to expect returns from the financial market in the midst of a crisis. However, an analysis of how the financial market worked before and during the crisis, as well as how it works now, gives reason to assume that the Russian financial market is currently not able to fully solve the problems of restructuring and modernizing the economy, as well as introducing innovations.

This is due to a number of reasons.

Firstly, under the current regulatory system, the return on investment from speculative strategies in the financial market, for example, the carry trading strategy or the use of leverage by borrowing funds through repo transactions, turns out to be higher than from investments in new production facilities or innovative technologies.

Secondly, due to the reorientation of many banks from lending in favor of investments in corporate bonds, they are losing the skills of project financing of the real economy, and the ruble bond market, which ensures the attraction of short-term investment resources, is not a source of replenishment of the real capital of companies, and even more so is not a source of financing innovations . In industrialized countries, the bulk (60-70%) of R&D expenditures is financed by private capital rather than by the state. In particular, abroad, especially in Western European countries, commercial banks play an important role in attracting financial resources to the innovation sector. The Russian banking system is weak and unable to provide large-scale lending to the economy.

As an analysis of world experience shows, one of effective ways attracting banking capital to the innovation sector is the development of PPP (public-private partnership) mechanisms, within the framework of which the state and credit institutions jointly finance new developments. At the same time, the state assumes those types of investment costs and risks that are unacceptable for banks.

In Russia, the role of banks in supporting innovation is still small. According to a number of export estimates, their contribution to financing domestic R&D costs today does not exceed 4-5%, which clearly does not meet the needs of the national economy. Banks are reluctant to invest money in projects related to the development and implementation of high technologies, since these projects usually have a high level of risk.

Thirdly, traditional innovation institutions in the form of direct investment funds and venture capital funds are not developed on the Russian market. Finally, the system of long-term savings for the population does not work in Russia. In addition, the unfavorable investment climate makes it difficult to attract foreign direct investment and long-term portfolio investments. Analysis of foreign experience shows that it is necessary to actively use various instruments stock market for technological re-equipment of priority sectors of the national economy and the introduction of innovations in production.

An analysis of real Russian practice shows that the basis for the growth of the corporate bond market from the beginning of 2004 to July 2008 was the carry trading strategy carried out by Russian banks and foreign hedge funds. From August 2008 to the present, as a number of analysts note, the growth of the ruble bond market is based on resources concentrated in banks as a result of the government providing them with anti-crisis support while the growth of loan portfolios stagnated.

One of mandatory conditions When issuing corporate bonds, in most cases, there was a guarantee from the issuers in the form of an offer, which gave bondholders the right to present them for redemption by the issuer within one to three years from the date of placement of the securities. These offers essentially changed the nature of long-term bonds, turning them into instruments of relatively short-term financial resources. These resources, attracted through the issuance of bonds, were actively used by issuers to finance mergers and acquisitions, refinance loans, for active business expansion and other relatively short-term purposes. Due to the relative short-term nature of bond financing and the low return on investment in the formation of new fixed assets, as well as in the development of new technologies, the role of bonds in financing the real sector of the economy still remains minimal, especially since these instruments cannot be used to finance innovative developments.

More effective tool Raising funds to finance fixed assets than issuing corporate bonds are public offerings of shares in the form of IPO and SPO. This is due to the fact that funds from an IPO are longer-term. The most active IPOs took place in 2006 and 2007, when companies raised $17.0 billion and $33.0 billion, respectively. This enabled companies to use part of their funds to purchase fixed assets. However, a significant part of the resources raised on the stock market was used to buy out businesses from previous owners, refinance debts and service mergers and acquisitions of companies.

Thus, it is not yet possible to say that a significant part of the proceeds from the placement of shares and, especially, corporate bonds contributes to the modernization of the economy and the introduction of new technologies. Moreover, the amount of funds that companies raise by issuing shares and corporate bonds and then use to purchase new fixed assets constitutes an extremely small share of the sources of financing of fixed assets.

The main sources of financing the fixed assets of companies in the real economy remain their own savings, government assistance, extra-budgetary funds and bank loans. They account for about 70% of all sources of investment in fixed assets. During the 2000s, despite the active growth of the stock market until 2008, the share of funds raised through the issue of bonds and shares in the sources of financing even the fixed capital of companies remained insignificant. According to expert estimates, in 1999 it amounted to 0.7% of all sources of financing fixed assets, and in 2008 it increased to only 1.6%.

The problem of the Russian economy from the point of view of the development of innovation activity is the weakness of the private equity fund industry and venture funds. These funds can be divided into funds created in offshore zones abroad, and closed-end mutual investment funds operating on the basis of the Federal Law of November 14, 2001 “On Investment Funds” (as amended in 2007).

As for closed direct investment mutual funds, the prospects for their development are still in doubt. In accordance with the legislation on investment funds, any information about private equity mutual funds as funds intended only for qualified investors ceased to be public at the end of 2009. According to the requirements of the Federal Financial Markets Service of Russia, stock exchanges create specialized trading sections for qualified investors, whose participants will have access to information about such funds. In this situation, it is not clear how their potential investors who do not have “qualified” status, including foreign investors. These funds were out of sight of analysts and specialists. Introduced by the Federal Financial Markets Service of Russia information barriers on the activities of direct investment mutual funds will only lead to a sharp decrease in the interest of potential investors in them, which will negatively affect the prospects for the development of these funds in Russia.

The creation and development of private direct investment funds and venture funds in Russia is also hampered by the lack of a state strategy for innovative development. Further development of the innovation system requires the creation of centralized structures with their regional offices, which would take on the functions of coordinating the efforts of numerous organizations to promote the promotion of new technologies into the economy, as well as the disclosure of information about opportunities innovative organizations for enterprises of various profiles.

• Cm.: Innovative development economy. International experience and problems of Russia. M.; St. Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriya, 2012. P. 284.

The development of innovative companies largely depends not only on the form of activity, but also on financial support.

Attracting investment will be one of the most important tasks facing an organization carrying out innovative activities.

All sources of financing, be it enterprises, various funds or individuals, participate in the economic process and in one way or another contribute to the development of innovation, and therefore can significantly influence the development of an innovative company.

Sources of financing can be divided into the following types:

• government resources;
• resources of enterprises and other economic entities.

Any investor who has invested capital expects to make a profit. And before investing, he will carefully check the subject of financing. Therefore, companies do not always have a chance to receive large funds from investors. And in order to still be able to carry out innovative activities, the company uses internal sources of financing for innovative activities. The material was published on http://site

It is extremely important for us to consider internal sources, that is, the resources of enterprises and other economic entities.

Such sources include:

• own funds;
• borrowed;
• attracted.

Own funds - profit received by the organization, depreciation charges, intangible assets, temporarily available fixed and working capital, various funds aimed at expanding production.

Borrowed funds - budget, bank or commercial loans.

Funds raised - target contributions, profit from the sale of own shares, etc.

First of all, the enterprise tries to use its own funds to develop innovations, but it is not always possible, so most often companies resort to obtaining various loans and credits, counting on making a profit from the introduction of innovation and repaying the debt with the payment of interest rates.

There is also another option for obtaining borrowed funds - venture capital. It is worth noting that it represents the purchase by funds of the company’s issued shares and bonds, not intended for fast receipt profit, but allowing the company to develop and operate efficiently, which will ultimately lead to the greatest profit.

Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that we can conclude that, using internal sources of financing, the company is quite capable of effectively carrying out innovative activities, expanding production, introducing and applying new technologies.

Innovation management Makhovikova Galina Afanasyevna

6.2. Sources of financing for innovation activities

Financing innovation is the process of providing and using cash, directed to the design, development and organization of production of new types of products, to the creation and implementation of new equipment, technology, services, works, development and implementation of new organizational forms and management methods.

After almost a 10-year decline in innovation activity in the period 2000–2004. the stage of its activation began.

The main sources of financing innovation activities are still budgetary funds; off-budget funds; own funds.

Over 70% of scientific and technical organizations are currently still state owned. The public sector unites organizations of federal ministries and departments, government bodies of republics, territories, regions, local governments, as well as organizations Russian Academy Sciences (RAS) and academies of sciences with state status. In accordance with Art. 120 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, most academic organizations and some organizations of federal ministries and departments have organizational legal form government agency(budgetary).

Sources of financing the innovative activities of enterprises are divided into external and internal (internal). Considering that innovative activities are carried out by enterprises of different forms of ownership (public sector, entrepreneurial, higher education, private non-profit), its own sources of funding are directed to all sectors of innovation activity, but with different volumes. Thus, in 2000, internal research costs were allocated in the following proportion: 24.4% - to the public sector; 70.8% - in entrepreneurial; 4.5% – in higher education; 0.3% – to the private non-profit sector. From this it can be seen that domestic financing in the business sector takes first place, in the public sector - second.

External financing of innovation activities involves the attraction and use of funds from the state, financial and credit organizations, individual citizens and non-government organizations. financial organizations.

Internal financing of innovation activities is carried out at the expense of enterprises’ own and equivalent funds. These include:

1) enterprise income: part of the profit from sales (commodity products, research performed, construction and installation work, financial transactions etc.);

2) receipts (depreciation charges, proceeds from the sale of disposed assets, stable liabilities, targeted receipts, other receipts);

3) financial resources mobilized in the financial market (sale of own shares, bonds and other types of securities; credit investments, financial leasing, funds from scientific foundations, sponsorship funds);

4) financial resources received through redistribution (insurance compensation for risks incurred, financial resources received from concerns, associations, industry and regional structures; financial resources generated on a share basis; dividends and interest on securities of other issuers; budgetary allocations and other types of resources).

The most important financial source is budgetary allocations. They provide solutions to large-scale scientific and technical problems. In conditions market economy Industry and factory science cannot afford to engage in this kind of research. Research of this kind can be financed from state budgets at various levels and specialized state funds. Budget funds are provided in the following forms:

1) financing of federal targeted innovation programs;

2) financial support for promising innovative projects on a competitive basis.

To get state support, the following requirements must be taken into account: a) innovative projects aimed at developing promising and developing sectors of the economy can participate in the competition, provided that they are partially financed (at least 20% of the required amount for project implementation) from the company’s own funds; b) the payback period should not exceed the established standard (usually 2 years); c) state financing of innovative programs that have passed a competitive selection can be carried out at the expense of federal budget funds allocated on a repayable basis, or on the basis of the provision of part of the shares of an economic entity into state ownership; G) government programs, provided for the competition, must have positive conclusions from the state environmental assessment, state departmental or independent assessment.

Table 6.1

Structure of investments in the Russian Federation in 2003

As a rule, state budget funds are allocated primarily to production:

Focused on the production of import-substituting products, competitive goods and services;

Producing products for which demand is high and will last for a long time;

Mastering the production of new types of products or higher-class products.

The analysis shows that until recently, two-thirds of domestic industry was financed from enterprises’ own sources (profits, depreciation charges) - table. 6.1.

From the data presented in the table it can be seen that budget financing of industry as a whole amounted to 2.1%. The fuel and raw materials industries also could not “boast” of the attention of government funding.

Among the leading forms of financing innovative activities can be a bank loan - funds provided by the bank for deadline for use for specific purposes. Currently, the share of bank loans is only 5% of all investments in the development of domestic industry. For using a loan, the bank charges set interest, the amount of which depends on the term of the loan, the amount of risk in the project, the characteristics of the borrower, etc. In 2004, the interest rate for the loan was 16% per year. The prospects for expanding bank lending to industry in the near future are small; the increase will be 2–3% per year.

A widespread form of financing innovative activities is the issue of securities. With its help, you can attract the required amount of funds in a fairly short time. This form of financing is available to enterprises organized in the form of a closed or open joint stock company. It allows you to accumulate large financial resources by placing shares among an unlimited number of investors (borrowing money from buyers of shares for an indefinite time) for the implementation of promising innovative projects. Through the issue of securities, the investment loan is replaced with market debt obligations, which helps to optimize the structure of financial resources invested in the innovative project. At the time of establishment of a joint stock company, a primary issue of shares is carried out, and when additional funds are raised, a secondary issue is carried out. It is the secondary issue that is carried out, as a rule, to obtain funds for the implementation of various innovative projects (development and release of a new product, improvement of technology, etc.). Over the past year and a half, 50 issues with a volume of attracted capital of $2 billion have been registered in Russia. In general, the Russian stock market is still poorly performing the function of transforming financial resources into investments.

Bank lending is usually focused on minimal credit risk, so access to credit for innovative enterprises is always limited. Venture financing of innovative projects overcomes the mentioned disadvantages of a bank loan, acting as a form and mechanism for financing the activities of small research and development firms, scientific and technical developments, fine-tuning and implementation of discoveries, inventions, and any innovations that are risky but promising. Venture capital companies and funds provide monetary resources on an interest-free basis without guarantees of their return; their risk is high, but if successful, the risk is compensated by excess profits that exceed costs by 30-200 times. According to published data, in 15% of cases, venture capital is completely lost, in 25% of cases, losses occur over a longer period than planned, in 30%, moderate profits are made. Large losses in venture financing can be avoided by carefully selecting projects by simultaneously investing in several innovative projects with different implementation periods.

Practice shows that the majority of venture funds working in Russia and with Russia were created either directly international organizations(in particular, under the auspices of the EBRD), or within the framework of intergovernmental agreements. Private venture funds are few in number. The development of venture capital, along with other circumstances, is hampered by the lack of regulatory legislative framework.

The most important link in the transfer newest types equipment and technical devices for use by consumers is financial leasing. The latter acts as a form of raising borrowed funds in the form of a long-term loan provided in kind in installments. Duration of the contract financial leasing depends on the depreciation period, it is less than or equal to the full depreciation period of the leased asset. IN different countries Leasing terms are determined by various regulatory documents. After the expiration of the contract, the leased asset may be transferred into the ownership of the lessee, subject to full payment of the amounts under the leasing agreement. Leasing is a mutually beneficial transaction for all its participants; it is effective means accelerating the implementation of innovative projects, received widespread in the world. In the USA, its share is more than 25% of innovative investments; in Japan, approximately 90% of new computers are sold through leasing.

Table 6.2

Indices of physical volume of investment in fixed capital by type of economic activity

(in comparable prices; as a percentage of the previous year)

End of table. 6.2

In 2007, 6,418.7 billion rubles of investment were invested in fixed capital, or 121.1% of the 2006 level.

By type of economic activity, indices of physical volume of investment in fixed capital in 2005–2006. are given in table. 6.2.

In 2007, the Russian economy received $120.9 billion of foreign investment, which is 2.2 times more than in 2006.

As of the end of 2007, accumulated foreign capital in the Russian economy amounted to $220.6 billion, which is 54.3% more than the corresponding period of the previous year. Largest specific gravity in accumulated foreign capital accounted for other investments made on a repayable basis (loans from international financial organizations, trade loans, etc.) - 50.2% (at the end of 2006 - 49.1%), the share of direct investments was 46.7 % (47.5%), portfolio – 3.1% (3.4%).

The main investor countries in 2007 were the United Kingdom (UK), Cyprus, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, and the USA. These countries accounted for 84.0% of the total volume of accumulated foreign investment, and the share of direct investments accounted for 84.0% of the total volume of accumulated foreign direct investment.