Maintaining the Sustainability and Identifying the Development Opportunities for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

The article discusses the issue of functioning of small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine, their development in the economic, political and social spheres under conditions of high uncertainty. The current state of small and medium-sized businesses is analyzed and the possibilities of ensuring their sustainability and further development are defined. The approaches to the definition of entities of micro-entrepreneurship, small, medium, and large entrepreneurship in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine are systematized. The main parameters of micro-enterprises, small, medium, and large enterprises are specified. The main problems of the development of small business in Ukraine before the war are highlighted, in particular, the lack of an effective mechanism of the State support and protection of small and medium-sized businesses, the prevalence of corruption, the shadowing of business, raiding, and the imperfection of the tax system, underdevelopment of risk insurance in business, the need to increase the social responsibility of business, etc. The balance of economic entities and the dynamics of the number of operating economic entities (large, medium, small) in Ukraine in 2010–2021 are analyzed. It is concluded that during this period there was a general reduction in the number of enterprises, while the proportion of SMEs in the total number of economic entities remains at the level of 99.97%. It is noted that in the context of the full-scale russian invasion, SMEs continue to be a significant factor in the stability of the State. SMEs are payers of the taxes that Ukraine uses for various security and defense needs. A study of the dynamics of the number of employed employees in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises over the past ten years is carried out, allowing to note an increase in their number to 81.5% of the total number of employees in 2021. The problems and challenges of the development of entrepreneurial activity in modern Ukraine are identified, such as destruction, relocation, search and resumption of work in a new regional niche of the market segment, as well as the search for opportunities to pay taxes, pay wages, engage in volunteering, and receive income for their own development. The authors propose a number of directions of the State policy to maintain the stability of small and medium-sized businesses: creating a favorable environment for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises; expanding access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises; simplification of tax administration for small and medium-sized enterprises; increasing the competitiveness and innovation potential of small and medium-sized enterprises.