Economic Security of Entrepreneurship: Specifics of Management in the Context of Financial Instability

When analyzing the expert opinions and the practice of preventing bankruptcy in various countries, it is advisable to single out elements of bankruptcy prevention associated with various forms of state support for business entities.

For example, according to the experts, the direct method of support is for the state to purchase stocks of business entities that are at the stage of the financial crisis. The fundamental principle for the implementation of this approach is the temporary ownership of corporate rights and the implementation of the owner's functions by the state in compliance with the laws of a market economy, i.e., the experts argue that the public package of corporate rights should be managed under the same conditions as for hypothetical private investors.

The experts believe that the conclusion of settlement agreements is also common in many countries. However, the conclusion of the settlement agreement differs by the form and procedure for its implementation among countries. There are two main forms of assignment of creditors, which may provide a settlement agreement: a moratorium (prolongation, debt restructuring) and writing off part of the debt. As a rule, settlement agreements provide for a combination of the two above forms. Concessions from lenders are common in the USA. However, as a rule, when such assignments are made, the creditor requires the enterprise to include its representative in the board of directors of this debtor company — in particular, for taking the financial flows of the enterprise under control.

According to the German experts, prolongation of the terms of debt payment by abandoning the existing financial requirements for a certain time or by providing additional loans is another form of the settlement agreement and a common tool for preventing bankruptcy in the practice of European enterprises.

As the experts point out, the method of preventing the bankruptcy of a business entity through the provision of state guarantees and budget loans has become widespread recently. Budget loans are fairly common at the regional level, while state support in the form of the state guarantees has dominated at the national level for a long time, in particular when resident enterprises raised foreign loans.

The provision of state guarantees is another way to support business entities. However, the experts point out that the state shifts the main functions of providing state guarantees and their execution in case of the occurrence of guarantee cases to specially established organizations with the state participation. Such organizations consider applications submitted by business entities with their business plans, select enterprises by the criteria of importance for the development of the state economy and the likelihood of the enterprise survival, provide state guarantees to selected business entities, and, most importantly, monitor the targeted use of funds that the company received from the creditor.

According to the experts, state subsidies is one of the important ways to prevent bankruptcy of business entities. As for the structure of subsidies, experts indicate that about 45 % of the total amount are allocated for the development, organization, and expansion of production of individual business entities, 17 % — for the replenishment of the working capital, 12 % — for the acquisition of fixed assets and technical re-equipment, 5.5 % — for the creation of jobs and the payment of wages to relieve social tension, and only 0.4 % — for scientific research. According to the experts, it is also common practice at the local level to support individual business entities in the form of establishing preferential rent for the use of premises, land, and other material resources.

The experts point out that cross-subsidization or indirect subsidizing of producers is a form of state subsidies, when some sectors of the economy are supported in order to encourage the activities of other sectors. This type of subsidies can be used because there are certain limitations of direct subsidizing of industries or enterprises in a crisis situation or in need. For example, the state stimulates the development of the engineering industry by providing subsidies to processing enterprises for the renewal of fixed assets — in particular, machinery and equipment.

At the same time, the experts believe that cross-subsidization has some advantages from the standpoint of the competitive development of the state's economy. In particular, direct subsidization reduces competition and does not stimulate innovation-driven growth. Direct subsidization is also often carried out on the basis of lobbying for corporate interests, without taking the real financial and economic performance of business entities into account. On the contrary, the consumer or supplier can choose partners in cross-subsidization and thereby stimulate a growth in the level of competition and innovation-driven growth.

V. CONCLUSION