Prolific illegal timber trade between Russia and China cannot be stemmed by present certification schemes and Russian governmental strategies. Blockchain could present a new technological opportunity, simultaneously addressing illegal logging, regulating timber trade and meeting the needs of environmentally-sensitive markets. SWOT analysis of blockchain applicability in Russian-Chinese timber trade is presented. Decentralisation based on smart contracts could ensure timber supply chain transparency through each log cryptographic encryption. However, it is considered complicated as cryptocurrency (on which trade depends) is beyond the legislative sphere of both countries and energy demands are enormous. Beyond cryptocurrency prohibition, huge businesses and governments cannot accept blockchain for international trade because of transparency and cost risks. Digitalisation through blockchain implementation could provide a highly transparent, non-editable system to handle decentralised big data characteristic of the forestry economy, realise Industry 4.0 and develop the "China-Mongolia-Russia" economic corridor. Fundamentally, a workable Russian-Chinese Government-Science-Business model must be cultivated for effective blockchain implementation.

Carbon markets, particularly emission trading schemes (ETS) and carbon offset projects, are significant mechanisms in climate change mitigation. However, there are still a number of unresolved issues regarding their attractiveness and efficient functioning. Blockchain, as the core of “3D’s concept” (including decentralization, decarbonization and digitalization), could be considered as a candidate solution for carbon markets’ improvement. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify the role of blockchain in ETS and carbon offset projects, its key features, implementation challenges and proposed applications, by analyzing and discussing the content of relevant studies, and grouping the results into domains. This study’s findings show that blockchain has great potential to be adopted in carbon markets. However, there is no data on blockchain use cases in energy efficiency, chemical processes and industrial manufacturing, waste disposal, and agriculture. Blockchain-based household and transportation carbon offset projects are linked to renewables through energy trading. Renewables and forestry are the most appropriate domains for blockchain adoption, considering various criteria of quality for carbon offset projects. Blockchain is currently immature in carbon markets because of its own drawbacks and challenges. This study also highlights research gaps and offers research directions to inspire researchers for conducting related investigations.

The article considers the features of SMEs from the perspective of their influence on the growth of the regional economy. It is proved that in order to achieve a positive value, support from the state and regions is required. Support measures are being considered. Support for the coronavirus pandemic is particularly analyzed. It is concluded that this will allow SMEs to act effectively, while remaining a factor in ensuring the sustainable development of the regional economy.