Improvement of Business Climate for SME as a Response to the Current Crisis and Coronavirus Pandemic

Vera A. Barinova – Head of Centre for Entrepreneurship Studies of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Head of Centre for Innovation Economics of the Gaidar Institute (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Stepan P. Zemtsov – Leading Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Senior Researcher of the Gaidar Institute, Candidate of Geographic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Yulia V. Tsareva – Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Entrepreneurial sector of the Russian economy was hard hit by the current crisis due to a plunge in demand and anti-epidemiological restrictions. This paves the way for the closure of a great number of enterprises, further growth of the unemployment rate and reduction in average income of the population. Growth in the share of coerced entrepreneurs and self-employed is one of the mechanisms for the labor market adaptation to crises in Russia. Many contemporary companies were established during previous crises that is why massive improvement of conditions for launching and running business can be one of the feasible strategies for fighting poverty and setting preconditions for the post crisis economic recovery.

The article analyzes key features of the investment climate in Russia compared to foreign countries including in separate regions according to ASI data. Despite a significant upgrade of Russia in Going Business rating, the regions retain significant differences even in formal procedures of doing business. Authors proposed instruments for the improvement of business climate across various strands: digitalization of state services, in particular customs regulation, setting up of a unified online system of support, interactive portal of control and supervisory requests, increased financing of effective institutes of development, introduction of tools for assessment of effective support. This can become a base for an open and predictable post-crisis entrepreneurial policy in Russia.

The article was written on the basis of the RANEPA state assignment research programme.

Key words: post crisis policy, conditions of doing business, transformation of business climate, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), investment climate, corona crisis, regions of Russia.