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Let me outline the structure of my presentation. My talk is in three parts. I’ll start with the main issues that small businesses face. Next, I’ll move on to ways of resolving them. Finally, I want to look at the positive side of the pandemic for some businesses. слайд Significance Considering the negative impact of the pandemic on the ecОnomy, the government's emergency mЭsures will be aimed at preventing a bЭnking and unemployment crisis. Among the many market sectors that require immediate attention are small and medium-sized businesses. According to the dэйta provided by State Service for the Protection of the Rights of AntreprenEUs, the pandemic affected almost 87% of business owners. One fifth of them lost up to 80% of rEvenue. However, it is small and medium-sized businesses that make up a huge part of the market economy and determine the rate of econOmic growth as well as the structure and quality of the GDP. Consequently, the government is interested in restoring their stable development. So today I want to discuss the results of our anAlasis and argue that the main challenges that small and medium-sized businesses face are the lack of cash reserves, a drop in sOlvency and the rise of unemployment. The two main directions of resolving the problems are adopting new business strategies, on the one hand, and financial and non-financial support, on the other hand. слайд Small Business Issues The introduced quarantine mЭsures affected the areas of domestic market services, such as public cЭйtering and retail trade in non-food products, tourism, hotel management, urban and IntercIty passenger transport. Now what are the main issues of small and medium-sized businesses? 1. The main problem is the lack of cash reserves. Cash reserves are a key to survival of small businesses. Very few of them can work without any cash flow, as they typically operate on very small profits and have no savings in reserve. According to the study by JэйP Morgan Chase, an American mu(a)ltinational investment bank and financial services holding company, most small businesses "have extremely low levels of cash reserves and insufficient safety cu(y)shion to continue operating, especially in the face of such a large-scale crisis." 2. Another problem for small businesses is a drop in solvency of citizens. It happens when a service is consumed but there’s a delay in payment for it. This revenue is already accounted for, taxed, but there is no real money. So what happens next? On the one hand, many small businesses have closed or will close soon. This leaves hope for the ones that remained to grow their customer base. On the other hand, effective demand will continue to fall, which will not allow them to receive income sufficient for existence and development. 3. Last but not least - the inE(э)vitable rise of unemployment, which is both good and bad news for business. On the one hand, there will be specialists in the labor market ready to work for a lower salary. A small enterprise that has remained operational will have a chance to hire a higher-level specialist for acceptable money. On the other hand, in general, unemployment will also push demА(а)nd down. So that was the basic information about small business challenges. Now let’s move on to possible solutions. слайд Possible (1) 1. First, governmental support. Support for entreprenEUrs can be divided into two key cAtegories, financial and non-financial. The financial types of support are primarily: - preferЭntial lending that conduct their activities in the field of innovation, production and socially-oriented entreprenEUrship. - subsidIzing part of the costs of production organizations to recover the cost of lease payments, or interest on loans taken for the construction or purchase of fixed Assets. Non-financial types of support for small and medium-sized businesses include: various consultations, pЭйtent and licensing organization of seminars, trainings on a remote basis; holding exhibitions for goods and services. слайд Possible (2) The second and the main direction of resolving the issues is adopting new tactics of further development, e.g.:  switching to an online-fOrmat  reЭllocating existing resources  changing marketing and business strategies  responding to changes in demand and other consumer trends Now let’s look at the positive side of the pandemic. Are there any businesses that benefited from it? Undoubtedly, there are. слайд Businesses Benefiting According to BOris Titov, commissioner for the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs, this is the IT sector, the production of medical equipment and pharmacЮticals. Products of the light industry were also very popular during the pandemic. The list can be extended. According to the rating of one of the largest Russian mиdia holdings, аRBK, the five areas and professions that were not affected by the coronavirus are: 1. ЭдТек-projects 2. TelимЭdиcine projects 3. Online RиtАilers 4. FoodTech- projects 5. Streaming services слайд Conclusion We can conclude that the period of the pandemic undoubtedly affected the Russian economy, since small and medium-sized enterprises were not prepared for such events either technically or financially. In order to cope with the main issues such as the lack of cash reserves, a drop in solvency and the rise of unemployment, companies should not only rely on governmental support but also adopt new business strategies. Also, there are areas and enterprises that will reach a new level of production in a post-pandemic period. Слайд That’s all for today. Thank you for listening to my talk.