Assessment of conditions for business and entrepreneurship development in Russia on the basis of international ratings

This paper presents results of a comparative study of three international doing business rankings - the World Bank's Doing Business ranking, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, and the World Economic Forum's World Competitiveness Ranking. The methods and emphases of these rankings differ, however together they provide a fairly complete picture of the national business environment. This means that data from all three rankings should be used in the development of doing business policies. Currently the most favorable environment for doing business is in the USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark and the UK. Russia has significantly improved its business environment over the past 10 years, particularly in such aspects as starting a new company, obtaining building permits and connecting the enterprise to the power grid. Going forward, Russia needs to improve its international trade environment, protection of minority investors, taxation system, accessibility of capital markets, and improvement of knowledge and business skills among the population. The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 crippled small and medium-sized businesses, as companies in this sector are more vulnerable and have less financial security. However, it will only be possible to fully assess the negative impact of the pandemic on the SME sector in Russia in 1-2 years. At the same time, as early as 2019, the SME sector in Russia showed a downward trend in a number of indicators.