ECOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS

Sustainable development of rural areas is a multifaceted and complex concept. One of the factors affecting the prosperity of the regions is the presence of small and medium-sized businesses. Improving government programs to support small and medium-sized businesses is a priority of state policy. The theoretical methodological and practical foundations of the strategic development of small and medium businesses were investigated. We have identified the main factors affecting the development of small business in Russia, such as low population density, low pre-emptive activity of the population, low support from the regional authorities. Creating an entrepreneurial environment is a priority to stimulate the development of small and medium-sized businesses.

This paper investigates the current state of small and medium business in Ukraine. The protracted nature of the war in Ukraine significantly destabilizes the activities of the subjects of this sector and leads to the deterioration of its development indicators. In particular, a decrease in quantity of active entities small and medium business, a decrease in the rate of registration of new entities, a shortage of own working capital in most small and medium enterprises will have a negative impact on the national economy. The main obstacles to the recovery and development of business activity during the period of validity of state of war are identified. It is the lack of financial resources; continuation of hostilities; interruptions in electricity, water and heat supply; destruction of logistics; increase in production costs; insufficient quantity of paying customers. The peculiarities of state support of small and medium business in Ukraine during the war are considered. The problems hindering the development of national small and medium business in the conditions of war are identified. It is the absence of a program document on the development of the small and medium business sector; low level of access to finance by small and medium business entities; insufficiently developed state financial support programs for IT startups; inefficiency of industrial parks. Proved, that the prospects of the development of small and medium business largely depend on ensuring the implementation of an effective state policy to stimulate its development. In this context, the priorities of the state policy in the sphere of stimulating the development of small and medium business in the conditions of the war in Ukraine are substantiated. It is the development of the State program for promoting the development of small and medium business in Ukraine, coordination of strategies and programs for the development of small and medium business at the state, regional and local levels; attraction of money from international financial organizations and international donors; creation of conditions for increasing the level of access of small and medium enterprises to finance; expansion of state grant support for IT startups; implementation of mechanisms of tax benefits for entities that resume their activities in the de-occupied territories; expansion and creation of new industrial parks with developed engineering and transport infrastructure, creation of favorable conditions for the development of small and medium business within the industrial park.

The article analyzes the impact of social media on the economic behavior of small businesses in Russia. Key marketing strategies used to promote products and services, attract customers, and optimize operational pro-cesses are examined. Particular attention is paid to adapting digital tools to local market conditions, including the specifics of consumer demand and regulatory restrictions. The study demonstrates that with a competent approach to the use of information and communication technologies, small businesses can significantly im-prove their competitiveness in a rapidly changing economic environment. Based on secondary data analysis, the key benefits and risks of integrating social media into business models are identified, and recommenda-tions for improving their effectiveness are offered. The authorэs contribution lies in systematizing and summa-rizing existing research on this topic, leading to the conclusion that social media today is an important tool for achieving sustainable growth and development of small businesses in Russia.

In the era of the green economy, the Chinese government has advocated for natural environmental protection and innovation in rural areas, making the sustainable development of small rural businesses into a focal point. Currently, whether natural environmental protection promotes the sustainable development of small rural businesses remains debatable, and the roles of regional innovation climate, entrepreneurs’ cognition of green development, and technological innovation in production on the sustainable development of small rural businesses are often overlooked. Addressing this gap, this study draws inspiration from Upper Echelons Theory and Sustainable Development Theory to construct a structural equation model (SEM) and proposes 10 hypotheses. Primary data was collected from rural entrepreneurs across 17 provinces in China, yielding 439 valid samples. The data were analyzed using AMOS 28.0, SMARTPLS 4.0, and SPSS 28.0. The findings revealed that natural environmental protection did not positively influence the sustainable development of small rural businesses (β = 0.104, p > 0.05). In contrast, the regional innovation climate (β = 0.189, p = 0.001) and rural small business entrepreneurs’ cognition of green development (β = 0.261, p < 0.001) significantly affected the sustainable development of small rural businesses. Technological innovation in production (β = 0.034, p < 0.01) played a partial mediating role between the regional innovation climate and the sustainable development of small rural businesses. And, the mediating role of technological innovation in production was significant in the relationship between entrepreneurs’ cognition of green development and the sustainable development of small rural businesses (β = 0.059, p < 0.01). As a representative developing country, China’s findings in rural areas provide valuable insights for other developing countries undergoing green development transitions. This study not only questions the applicability of Porter’s hypothesis in rural contexts but also offers implications for relevant policymakers and small business entrepreneurs.

The relevance of this contribution is caused by the fact that following the growing need of development of small business in Russia, the organizations, representing small business, more often stop their functioning, than appear in the market as new players. According to the authors, an important challenge is the fact that the barriers, hindering development of small business, arise because of the developed negative attitude of the Russian society to a figure of an entrepreneur and business activity in general. Entrepreneurship is a phenomenon, which is not free from morals and values: The propensity to create serious business for the long-term perspective requires a set of value orientations, which determine what should be made and how it should be made. The purpose of this study is consideration of the existing approaches to understanding of the phenomenon of entrepreneurship from the point of view of value orientations, which are the basis for business activity in conditions of innovative development of the global economy. The results of the conducted research on the relevant values are presented in the work. The role of such valuable entrepreneurial quality as readiness to changes, necessary for formation of a new mode of thinking of the modern business community, is considered in this contribution. By results of the conducted research, the authors offered a model of this integrative characteristic, which can be the basis for purposeful process of preparation and retraining of entrepreneurs (including future ones) for development of the entrepreneurial culture of the region in the context of requirements of the innovative economy.

The main features of small and medium-sized businesses and the conditions for their functioning in Russia have been considered. A significant lag of the Russian Federation in terms of the development of small and medium-sized businesses from economically advanced countries has been noted. The sectoral structure of domestic small and medium-sized businesses, its contribution to the country’s economy have been highlighted. The main problems hindering the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Russia have been analysed. In particular, a shortage of credit and financial resources, an imperfection of the taxation system, excessive business administration, overpriced compulsory insurance payments, a lack of readiness of a significant part of small and medium-sized businesses management to conduct business, have been revealed. The main activities carried out by the state to support small and medium-sized businesses have been enumerated, inconsistency and insufficiency of these activities have been enumerated. As the main way of state support for small and medium-sized businesses, it has been proposed to create favorable conditions for conducting its activity, including further improvement of tax legislation in this field, facilitating their access to loans, eliminating unnecessary regulatory, administrative and organizational barriers, training and advanced training for management.

The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the development of small business in Russia should not compete with large producers without state support. At the moment, the existing dependence on large organizations is the limited availability of their own sources of financing for their activities. The state, municipal and regional authorities are interested in the development of small and medium-sized businesses and individual en-trepreneurs.

The allocation of financial resources by the state to support small business and co-financing of investment projects of large and medium-sized businesses are significant financial instruments of state management of the socio-economic development of all Russian territories, without exception, especially in difficult modern epidemiological conditions. At the same time, it would be advisable to synchronize the quantitative and qualitative certainty of the implementation of these tools in time with the viability of the territories, determined by the current stage of their life cycle. The purpose of this article is to study the current presence in the Republic of Bashkortostan of direct or indirect accounting of the stage membership of municipalities in determining the amount allocated to it for the development of business of various dimensional forms of financial resources based on a systematic analysis of statistical data using typological grouping tools and rank correlation analysis. To achieve this goal, the authors analyzed the size of subsidies to support small business in the municipalities of the Republic of Belarus and the volume of state co-financing at the subregional level of objects from the lists of priority investment projects of the republic. The study of these indicators in relation to 8 urban districts (Ufa, Sterlitamak, Salavat, Oktyabrskiy, Neftekamsk, Sibay, Kumertau, Agidel) and 54 municipal districts of the Republic of Belarus made it possible to construct their typological groups according to the stages of the life cycle, the specific volume of subsidies to small businesses and the specific volume of co-financing of investment projects of large and medium-sized businesses. An assessment was made of the correlation between the stadia of municipalities and, firstly, the amount of subsidies allocated to it from the budget of the republic to support the activities of municipal programs for the development of small businesses and, secondly, the amount of co-financing of investment projects of large and medium-sized businesses. The absence of statistically significant interconnections between the volumes of financial resources currently allocated from the budget of the Republic of Bashkortostan for the development and support of small, medium and large businesses in municipalities and their life cycle stages was revealed, with the exception of a very weak negative relationship between the stage membership of municipal districts and the specific volume subsidies to support the activities of their programs for the development of small businesses (Spearman's coefficient = -0.270). The results of the study allow us to conclude that it is necessary to take into Belarus, as well as in other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the stage-by-stage identification of territories when determining the amount allocated to municipalities from regional budgets of financial resources for business development of various dimensional forms.

The article presents the results of a study of the development and legal support of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine. There were considered the legislation and regulations governing the activities of small and medium enterprises in Ukraine. The basic principles of the system of state support for the development of small business as a factor of economic growth of the state were determined. It was studied the structure of state support of small and medium business development by direct and indirect instruments. It was found that state support for small business development is implemented through programs and projects coordinated by international, national and regional support institutions. The peculiarities of financial and credit provision of small and medium enterprises were established. There were determined the instruments of state support of SME enterprises in the field of lending, including such as introduction of state lending programs, guarantees for loans, compensation of interest rates on loans, etc. It was conducted an analysis of the activities of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine in 2016-2020 and the main factors influencing its development were identified. The structure and quality of the loan portfolio of the banking sector of Ukraine were studied and the process of bank lending to small businesses was assessed. There were reviewed the state programs providing partial interest rate compensation and state loan guarantees, including the state program of lending to small and medium-sized enterprises «Affordable Loans 5-7-9%», which laid the preferential basis for SME lending by Ukrainian banks. The main advantages and disadvantages of this program and prospects for its improvement were identified. Based on the analysis of theoretical aspects and world and domestic practice, there were substantiated the directions of increasing the efficiency of small and medium business in Ukraine in the context of intensifying bank lending and state regulatory, legal and financial support for its development. It was substantiated that stimulating the development of small and medium business in Ukraine within the programs of state support and bank lending are important for overcoming socio-economic disparities.

Relevance. The difficulties of small business caused by the pandemic and its economic consequences actualize the study of issues of regional economic development in small business, since its effective functioning provides opportunities for economic growth in the region.The purpose is establishment of measures to support small business based on the trends of its development in the regions, which in the future will allow to form the directions of regional economic development in small business, contributing to improving the efficiency of the regional economy.Objectives: Determination of trends in the development of small businesses in Russia and the Central Federal District. Assessment of indicators of the state, activity and development of the small business sector in regional economic development in the context of the Central Federal District regions. Analysis of numerical dynamics, as well as the dynamics of ICT development and anti-crisis support in detail on financial, property and innovation support for small businesses. Establishment of support measures for the small business sector aimed at improving the efficiency of regional economic development. Methodology. Methods used in the research: statistical information processing; statistical analysis and synthesis; graphical method of data visualization.Results. Since 2019, the number of small businesses and their number has been declining due to the pandemic. In 2020, the regions of the Central Federal District are characterized by a reduction in the number of small enterprises and the number of their employees, an increase in the level of digitalization of small businesses, a decrease in the number of new private high-tech firms with non-zero revenue, as well as an increase in anti-crisis support. The support provided has not yet led to normalization of the situation. The designated set of measures will create a certain level of attractiveness for the population in the small business sector, as well as stimulate the development of existing small businesses.Conclusions. The presented set of measures will make it possible to identify promising areas of regional economic development in the small business sector, which will contribute to economic growth in the region and increase the efficiency of the regional economy.

The purpose of this article is to study the state of development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation, to study their sectoral structure and territorial dispersion. The research methodology includes monographic, statistical, analytical research methods. The processes of territorial concentration of capital, people, and trade turnover have a significant impact on competitiveness and efficiency. Concentration under the influence of market laws leads to an increase in total social capital, contributes to increased competition. The main trends from 2008 to 2018 that we identified in the research process are: 1) a decrease in the size of medium-sized enterprises by 32.4%, 2) an increase in the number of small and micro enterprises — by 45%.  We found that the regional dispersion of small business in Russia is heterogeneous. The largest share of small enterprises is concentrated in the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation, mainly in the city of Moscow and the Moscow Region (36%), the share of people in this district is above 30%, and the turnover of trade is the highest in the country - almost 49%. The share of investments in fixed assets is also the largest in the Central Federal District (37%).

Introduction. The Netherlands is the world's leading economic power. This fact is expressed in gross domestic product, “Doing business” indicators, competitiveness ratings. With a high market economy, the lion's share of which is occupied by small and medium enterprises. Institutions operating within the general monetary mechanism are played one of the most important roles. With this in mind, it should be noted that Standard &amp; Poor's credit rating service has given the Netherlands the highest level on its scale – “AAA”. All this is the reason for studying the support system of small and medium-sized businesses in this country, including financing and refinancing. Methods. The following general and special methods are used to achieve this goal: induction and deduction to draw conclusions about the state of development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Netherlands; logical for consistent generalization of theoretical and practical provisions; methods of statistical analysis for the analysis of basic indicators of small and medium business in the Netherlands; methods of synthesis and systematization in the formation of proposals to increase the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine. Results. The article examines the role of small and medium business in economic development, support for small and medium business in the Netherlands. The main factors influencing the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Netherlands are revealed, as well as the main principles that guide the government's authorized structures in matters of small and medium-sized business support policy. The conditions of banking institutions in the framework of real sector financing and support of the Central Bank are analysed. Discussion. The development of an integrated approach to the support of the real sector according to European models is substantiated. Incentives for the development of the real sector in Ukraine are proposed.

The basic mechanisms of infrastructure support and state support of entrepreneurship are considered. At the present stage, one of the accents in the development of the economy of the Russian Federation is on the development of small business, the development of small and medium-sized business acquires special importance in the conditions of imposing sanctions against Russia. Based on the analysis of infrastructure support mechanisms, a model of infrastructure provision for small and medium-sized enterprises at the regional level (on the example of the city of St. Petersburg) has been proposed.

The article is devoted to topical problems of small business development in the world production practice. The main tendencies of development of small business in modern conditions are noted, in particular, the directions of development of innovation-oriented small business are considered on the example of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Domestic and foreign experience has proved that supporting small businesses from the state is an integral part of the market economy. Small business, gaining a solid position in the market, needs development and state regulation. In foreign countries, small and medium-sized businesses represent an important sphere of employment for the population, promotes the development of the innovative potential of the economy, and the search for and introduction of innovations that are a factor in obtaining competitive advantages for enterprises, industries, regions. To realize its potential, state support should be carried out simultaneously in several directions, which will enable it to cover all small business sectors: the sphere of real production through the subcontracting mechanism, the sphere of circulation through the franchising mechanism, the sphere of applied science through the mechanism of venture contracts. It is also necessary to have banks specially created to participate in small business support programs and the activities of "business incubators". For a significant rise in the national economy, it is necessary to promote the maximum increase in the number of small innovative enterprises in the production sector, to stimulate the development of interrelations between small, medium and large industrial business, to creatively use the relevant foreign experience. All this should become an integral part of the overall policy in the field of restructuring the domestic economy, since business as a whole, regardless of its scale, is a single and interrelated process.

This study aims to determine the effect of additional business capital from BTPN Syariah and business location on the development of Small Businesses in East Binjai District. This rapidly developing information technology is responded by the BTPN Syariah company, which provides business credit to mothers of underprivileged families with the aim of improving the quality of life of underprivileged mothers' families, where credit assistance is only used in order to improve their existing businesses or to open new businesses. To become a BTPN Syariah customer, the age is 18 to 25 years or married, for the beginning, but the age of 60 is also allowed, and the provision of credit without collateral. This study uses a quantitative research method, using primary data sources. The results of the study show that there is an effect of additional business capital from BTPN Syariah on the development of Small Businesses in East Binjai District. There is an effect of business location on the development of Small Businesses in East Binjai District. There is an effect of additional business capital from BTPN Syariah and business location on the development of Small Businesses in East Binjai District. Keywords: Influence of Giving; BTPN Syariah; Business Capital; Business Location; Business Development