SMALL BUSINESS AS A PRIORITY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY

The study focuses on the development of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Russia. The role of SMEs for the socio-economic development of the country as a whole and its regions is determined. The current state and the main problems of SME development are considered. A comparative analysis of SMEs in Russia and abroad showed a serious lag of Russia in the development of SMEs. The study showed that despite some positive steps taken to address the problem, the development of small and medium businesses is still too slow. A huge tax burden, corruption, administrative barriers, lack of credit and some other factors hinder the development of this most important sector of the economy. The study proposes the main strategies to solve the problems of SME development in Russia and its regions. As evidenced by the experience of other countries, the most important trend for SME development is its participation in mechanisms that imply the use of public private partnerships. It also highlighted that the tool of public private partnership can solve problems through various mechanisms of involvement of SMEs in projects on mutually beneficial terms. Implementation of these goals will help develop SMEs to create a highly efficient and competitive economy in Russia and its regions. (C) 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK