BUSINESS ACTIVITY IN THE REGIONS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the socio-economic development of any country serve as a kind of trigger and generator of structural changes in the economy and society. Small businesses are the most receptive to innovative ideas and are ready to implement them. On the one hand, small and medium-sized businesses act as a catalyst for the economic growth of the entire country, on the other hand, they implement a number of social tasks, the key of which is to promote employment and ensure a decent standard of living for citizens. The SME sector employs more than 25 % of the country's able-bodied population. At the same time, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are seriously differentiated in terms of the level of development of SMEs, in some regions the potential of the SMEs is used inefficiently. Given the current conditions for the functioning of the Russian economy and the fact that small and mediumsized businesses play an important role in its development, the study of the level of entrepreneurial activity in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the search for ways to increase it is very relevant. The article carried out the clustering of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation according to indicators of business demography (“birth rate”, liquidation of organizations), entrepreneurial activity, as well as an indicator reflecting the current opportunities for expanding entrepreneurial potential in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The place of the Republic of Bashkortostan among other subjects of the Russian Federation in terms of the level of entrepreneurial activity has been determined.