UDC 338
DOI: 10.36871/ek.up.p.r.2024.12.25.010

Authors

Lira K. Gurieva,
Konstantin G. Abaev,
North Ossetian State University

Abstract

Small and medium-sized businesses are one of the most important factors of economic growth. In most countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), SMEs account for more than 50% of GDP, in China — 60–70%, in the USA and Finland — about 60%, in Italy — more than 70%. In Russia, this figure is only 21%. Therefore, state support for the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector is an important task of the Russian state. After the announcement of the SVO and the introduction of sanctions by the countries of the collective West to Russia, the Russian economy is functioning in mobilization mode. The sanctions, which are constantly replenished with new package measures, have had a significant impact on the business environment, which in turn could not but contribute to the introduction of additional state regulatory measures aimed at ensuring the sustainability of entrepreneurship. And these measures turned out to be, as the study showed, very effective. This conclusion is made based on the analysis of the short-term dynamics of the business activity index of small and medium-sized businesses in Russia (RSBI Index), which is based on the data of the survey analysis using telephone interviews with at least 1600 respondents, including both owners and managers of micro, small and medium-sized companies and businesses. This survey is conducted using a joint methodology of the public organization “Opora Rossii”, banking experts and analysts of a consulting company. The authors believe that the results of the RSBI Index analysis in both individual and group regions should be used as a tool for predictive analytics and a basis for developing inclusive regional measures of state support for entrepreneurship in each region of Russia. However, only regions with developed entrepreneurship use this tool. The article shows that the regions of the Russian Federation with the most developed SMEs include the regions of the Central Federal District. And it is in these regions that measures of additional support for entrepreneurship have been introduced and are being implemented in order to better adapt businesses to the challenges of the unstable macroeconomic environment that has developed as a result of Russia’s confrontation with the countries of the collective West.

Keywords

small and medium-sized businesses, business activity, RSBI Index, regional measures to support entrepreneurship