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In recent years, the socio-economic environment for doing business has changed significantly under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing sanctions on the Russian economy. The small business sector is particularly affected by these factors. The aim of the paper is to study the “reaction” of the Russian small and medium-sized businesses (SME) sector to the new economic environment and to analyse its “perception” of state support measures. The information base consists of the works of domestic and foreign scientists, the data of sociological research at the country level and at the regional level (subjects of the Northwestern Federal District). In the study, the methodology of system analysis was applied, sociological and statistical analysis was carried out. The results of the study show that despite the focus of the federal and regional authorities on creating conditions to offset the effects of external “shocks” on the business sector, there remain unresolved problems. These include low effective demand and poor business infrastructure in some areas, which hinders SMEs’ access to finance for business development. This situation has led to a decline in SME revenues and employment, as well as a deterioration in the demographics of enterprises. The deterioration of the business environment has also been identified as having a negative impact on the attitudes and willingness of the population to engage in entrepreneurship. The authors assess the accessibility of state support measures for entrepreneurs using the example of the Vologda Oblast. On average, only about 60 % of those who applied for assistance were able to receive it. The authors prove that under the conditions of strengthening external shocks the necessity of state support for the SME sector increases, especially in terms of tax and financial support. The need to reduce administrative barriers to business, to provide an additional reduction of up to 10 % of insurance premiums charged on wages, to increase the period of repayment of preferential credit funds, etc. has been substantiated. |
