Impact assessment of the introduction of COVID-19 quarantine restrictions on financial performance of small and medium enterprise sector of the Russian Federation

The deterioration of the economic situation in the country is certainly reflected in the financial performance of small and medium enterprise sector (hereinafter referred to as SME sector). The article attempts to study the degree of impact of forced urgent measures introduced by state authorities to contain the spread of coronavirus infection on financial performance of the sector. The authors conducted an overview study of scientific publications written by leading professional analysts on the problems of the economic situation in the Russian entrepreneurial segment, as well as on the relevance and effectiveness of government measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises. The assessment of changes in the final performance indicators of each of the three SME sector elements (micro, small and medium enterprises) over the past three years is given. When studying the dynamics of the components of the balanced financial result, horizontal analysis was used, alongside with the method of absolute differences, calculation of growth rates, and index method. The made analysis revealed a sharp deterioration in financial performance during the most severe quarantine restrictions in 2020 and an improvement in the economic situation after their partial abolition in 2021. It was noted that the risk of mass bankruptcy of enterprises in the SME sector was compensated by large-scale state support. It was determined that the protective restrictions imposed to localise the epidemic have aggravated the existing problems of small and medium-sized businesses. The article shows that the main risks of the studied segment will persist in the near future. In this regard, it is necessary to improve the tools of state regulation of SME sector development with consideration to the accumulated experience of anti-crisis management.