Cross-border cooperation as a factor in increasing the efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises of St. Petersburg

Currently, the role of small and medium-sized business in the regional economy is becoming increasingly important, especially in the context of the digitalization of the economy. Because SMEs are flexible, highly innovative and cost-effective, they can more easily enter into international relations and adapt to changing foreign market conditions. In this article cross-border cooperation of small and medium-sized enterprises of two countries is considered as a factor in increasing the efficiency of its performance. First of all, according to the results of the survey of SMEs, which was carried out within the INCROBB project implemented by the "South-East Finland - Russia" CBC program 2014-2020, the main opportunities, problems and barriers for sustainable cross-border cooperation of small and medium-sized enterprises were identified. Then the financial and economic indicators of about 10% of all SMEs of St. Petersburg were calculated and analyzed. After that a comparative evaluation of these financial and economic indicators with the similar indicators for SMEs of St. Petersburg with the positive experience of cross-border cooperation (those who took part in the questioning) was made. The comparative evaluation showed that the indicators of enterprises with positive experience of cross-border cooperation turned out to be at higher level than the indicators of the total aggregate of SMEs in this region. Thus, it was found out that sustainable cross-border cooperation has a positive effect on the efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises.