Development of small business in Russia: problems and solutions

The chosen topic relevance is caused by a fact that in modern realities of economic development small businesses act as key units of the development of Russia. The small business enterprises efficiency is determined by several advantages in comparison with larger enterprises: 1) satisfaction of market requirements with such goods and services that larger industries do not produce for economic or other reasons; 2) high capital turnover; 3) usage of innovations. Small businesses have significant growth potential and flexible market behavior, which give them the opportunity for survival and development. And with that, in order to fully exploit this potential, it is necessary to provide access to resources that would allow small businesses in practice to carry out an active business in the current market conditions. The economic downturn in 2014, which resulted from both the structural problems of the Russian economy and a sharp deterioration in the foreign policy situation negatively affected the financial and credit market, in particular - in the segment of credit and financial support for small and medium businesses. The purpose of research - to consider the problems of small business development in Russia. The article provides an analysis of the current situation of small businesses; it is shown that the major companies are concentrated in the Central Federal District, which is due to historical and geographical preconditions. The article outlines the main problems of development of small business in Russia at the turn of XX-XXI centuries. The authors analyze the main key areas of public policy in promoting the development of small business and identify priority measures to overcome the crisis, including in the field of finance and credit support to small businesses.