Modern small business in Russia

The tendencies of small business development in Russia in 2008-2010 are shown. A comparison of the level of its development with the international experience shows a significant gap between Russia and other countries. Negative changes prevailing in the crisis and post-crisis period compared to 2000-2008 are identified in the level of activity, sectoral structure of small business and employment. Small business in Russia is mostly developed in the highly urbanized regions with large agglomerations and maritime transit border regions, it lags behind in areas with low income and high investment risks. High concentration and regional and interregional disparities of development are revealed. Measures of the Government of Russian Federation in 2009 to support small businesses are evaluated, and its promotion in the regions there small business had already reached a relatively high level is shown. The correlation between indicators of small business development and of its state support in the Russian regions has shown a low effectiveness of measures taken. Copyright © 2012 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.