Promoting Enterprise in the New Russia: An Example from the Murmansk Region

Abstract

DR. GEORGY PSAREV IS DIRECTOR of' the Fund for Financial Support and Promotion of Small Enterprises in the Murmansk Region of Russia. Independent small enterprise in Russia has emerged as a result of the collapse of the old coimmniand economy and recent legislation but establishing small firms as part of the newly emerging market economy is very difficult. This article describes the work of an enterprise agency, the Fund for the Financial Support and Promotion of Small Enterprises. This is an independent, self-financing enterprise agency established in 1990 and thie article shows how the agency, though initially modelled on similar agencies in Norway and Finland, has adapted to the very special circumstances of the new Russian economy. For instance, the Fund operates as a commercial business in connection with the commodity exchanges which have emerged in Russia to provide the basis of a new market-based distribution system. This not only allows the Fund the secure resources for its activities but also helps ensur-e a supply of materials for the small businesses it is helping and training in business skills for tl-he Fund's staff. Though its main office in Murrnansk, the Fund has already set up branch offices in St. Petersburg and Novgoirod and now employs more than 20 people. Other similar enterprise agencies have been set up elsewhere in Russia as part of a support system for the siiiall businesses of the country's new economy.