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Nowadays, the level and quality of the small and medium business development is one of the modern state’ most significant characteristics. In developed countries, the dimension of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector is usually very substantial and, on average, is about 58% of the country’s GDP. In Russia, this indicator is at the level of 20.2 % of GDP. In world practice, small and medium-sized enterprises guarantee a considerable portion of the population’s earnings (mainly through the creation of jobs), and impact on the socio-economic situation for regions and the country as a whole. According to the Russian Federation Federal Tax Service’s (FTS) official data, the most significant number of workers in the SME sector is recorded in the North-West (NWFD) and Central Federal Districts (CFD). The subject of the research is economic and managerial relations arising in the process of development of small and medium-sized businesses. The purpose of the article: analysis of problems and assessment of the state of development of SMEs in the Komi Republic. The study is based on an empirical analysis of the data from the unified register of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as the portal of small and medium-sized businesses of the Komi Republic. We consider the key issues that constrain the development of the Russian SME sector, including economic uncertainty, rising costs, and declining consumer demand. The database is Rosstat reporting, regulatory materials, official documents of state bodies, open data of Internet resources of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Komi. As a result, it is argued that nowadays tax and regulatory pressure on small and medium-sized enterprises are at a higher level than for big companies. These problems lead to SME sector’s slow development, lack of incentives for growth and splitting companies into parts for tax purposes. It is shown that stimulating the development of the small and medium-sized business sector in Russia should be carried out with the systemic and practical support programs from state structures. Further directions of development of the presented research are the study and analysis of the effectiveness of the implementation of the program to support small and medium-sized businesses in the territory of the Komi Republic “Development of the Economy”.

Natural gas resources production in Russia is profitable, both economically and in terms of the energy produced. In 2017, the Gazprom Return on Energy Investment (further- EROI) for the production, transportation, and processing was 79:1 that is a high level of the coefficient, and Energy Savings' scale (further – ES) constantly under enhancing. However, nowadays for Russian gas companies, there is an urgent question about EROI and ES transversal links with other sustainable factors. Which financial and non-financial factors can lead to the highest level of energy sustainability? In the Research Authors regard Energy efficiency growth as the result of the transversal processes with financial resources affecting the Company's technical innovation state, ecological environment, and social responsibility. Three energy efficiency models with forecasts till 2030 were built. The optimal EROI model shows a forecast trend under the influencing Return on Labor, Net Profit growth, and Research and Development expenses. Energy Savings models' forecast were built under the influencing Higgins sustainable growth rate, social and environmental expenses, and Research and Development expenses. Keywords: Russian natural gas industry, Gazprom, EROI, Energy savings, Energy efficiency sustainability, ARIMA model, JEL: G32, F30, M21, Q01, Q40