Development and institutional support of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship in the Donetsk People’s Republic

Aim. To assess the current state and development prospects of institutions supporting small and medium-sized entrepreneurship (SME) in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) amid the region’s integration into the single economic space of Russia. Objectives. To analyze the quantitative growth dynamics and structural shifts in the region’s SME sector based on data from the Unified Register of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) of Russia; to characterize the infrastructure and main instruments of state and regional support; to assess the actual coverage of businesses by support measures and to identify the systemic barriers limiting their accessibility; to substantiate directions for improving support mechanisms so as to transition from extensive growth to qualitative development of entrepreneurship. Methods. The study employs statistical analysis of data from the Unified Register of SMEs of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, a comparative analysis of the actual coverage of businesses by state and regional support measures, and a systemic approach to assessing institutional barriers. Results. A sustained quantitative growth of the SME sector is established, driven primarily by the registration of microenterprises and individual entrepreneurs. Despite the formation of an extensive infrastructure, the actual coverage of entities by assistance measures in the DPR remains critically low. It is established that the main obstacle is not a deficit of financial resources but systemic barriers: the mismatch between strict federal criteria and the capabilities of newly created enterprises, high administrative costs for processing assistance, and the predominantly application-based nature of interaction between support institutions and entrepreneurs. Conclusions. To transition from extensive recovery to qualitative development of SMEs in the DPR, a change in the support management model is necessary. The strategic priority should be not further expansion of the list of benefits but rather the reduction of administrative and organizational barriers through the introduction of the one-stop-shop principle, the development of proactive business support, and flexible adaptation of selection criteria to the specifics of the new territories.