SME SUPPORT POLICY IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AND ASSESSMENT OF ITS IMPACT ON BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Abstract: Establishment and legal development of small private businesses in the Republic of Moldova became possible only since the 90s at the initial stage of market reforms. Despite the absence of a regulatory framework for business development in this period, the rapid growth in the number of small enterprises has been noted. Although the owners of newly established, privatized and reorganized small enterprises (SE) were lacking in business knowledge, and public administration employees did not have a clear understanding of the role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)in the economy, however, already in 1992-1994 the basics of entrepreneurship development policy have been laid. Over the last years, state policy aimed at supporting SMEs has been developed considerably in the Republic of Moldova, but the business environment is not favorable enough. The paper presents the multifaceted analysis of the state support policy of SMEs in the Republic of Moldova and the assessment of its impact on the business from different perspectives – government, international ratings and entrepreneurs. The results of the research revealed that, quite a large number of entrepreneurs over the years pointed to deterioration in the business environment conditions; however, the opinions of certain groups of entrepreneurs vary significantly. This means that the government's economic policy does not consider enough the entrepreneurs’ opinion regarding the general business climate changes, as well as the specific problems faced by different groups of entrepreneurs. The research methodology is based on an analysis of statistical data; the legal framework and policy documents; the main international rankings, as well as the results of surveys of different groups of Moldovan entrepreneurs – women, young people, people with disabilities, which were implemented with the participation of the authors in the period 2016-2017.Note: UDC: 334.722 (478