Economic and environmental problems are closely related, and solving some of them, the others cannot be solved. The state of the environment directly forms the potential of the economic sphere. For example, resources for industrial enterprises are formed in the natural environment, and the capacity of plants and factories depends on resources’ quantity. The amount of money to be spent on the purchase and installation of treatment plants, on the measures to eliminate water, air and soil pollution, depends upon the profit. Each country has its own list of environmental problems related to the economy. They are engaged in their elimination at the state level, but first of all the responsibility for the consequences is the burden of companies’ management. The active development of the economy should not adversely affect the state of the environment. Both individual enterprises and whole states should control the economic and environmental situation in order to achieve a balance and solve global problems. The most important form of interaction between the state and business in solving economic-and-environmental problems is the introduction of zero waste technologies in all their diversity and achieving their multiplicative effect. The paper shows the relationship between environmentally-oriented innovative development of the economy and the introduction of zero waste technologies.

The content, boundaries, development vector and expected results of the sustainable development policy today rightfully belong to one of the most debated issues in the scientific community. The imperative of solving the critical problem of replacing the dominant world order based on the extraction of mineral raw materials carries the risk of increasing economic isolationism. This threatens to eliminate the economics of extracting products from technological production chains that meet the needs of modern consumers around the world, and the loss of technological identity of the industry. For the transition of an economy with a developed commodity sector to the path of sustainable development, modernization of industry on a new technological basis is required and saturation of the domestic market with environmentally friendly production requires, on the one hand, the import of technologies, and on the other, significant “environmental technologies connected” investments. Therefore, sustainable development should be both a goal and, at the same time, the result of a new industrialization of the economy, cannot set itself the goal of enhancing isolation from the global raw materials market.

Scientific and technological advances and economic globalization impose new requirements on the organization of domestic economy. Knowledge economy development principles were formulated in order to understand current processes. Special attention was paid to specific features of the knowledge economy. A comprehensive approach proposed by the World Bank was studied under a special Knowledge for Development Program (K4D) to assess country's economic readiness to shift to the knowledge economy model. Countries were ranged based on the Knowledge Economy Index and top-10 countries were selected. Such indices as the Global Innovation Index, the Human Development Index and collections of analytic works also indicate a transfer to the knowledge economy. The development of the Global Innovation Index was studied and top-10 countries having the highest indices were selected. A research was made into the Human Development Index and its dynamics in Russia and in G20 countries was analyzed over the period of 1995 – 2015.

The chapter provides a retrospective analysis of entrepreneurship development in Russia from the 9th century to 2020. It highlights four periods in the development of SMEs in Russia and gives characteristics of each of the periods. It also highlights criteria for classifying enterprises as small and medium-sized businesses according to Russian legislation. A retrospective analysis of government programs to support SMEs from 1994 to 2020 was carried out. The state support program, effective since 2016, “Strategy for the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in the Russian Federation for the Period Ending 2030,” is considered in detail. Attention is paid to target indicators of SME development until 2030. An analysis of measures of state support for SMEs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic has been carried out, highlighting the most affected industries. An analysis of SMEs by region of Russia was also carried out. An analysis of SMEs in effected industries in the post-pandemic period is carried out.

Ensuring the sustainable development of a country or a single territory is a complex task, the main role in the implementation of which is the timely receipt of financial resources. This allows for the implementation of innovative economic and environmental policies aimed at diversification and ecologization of the regional economy, including a reduction in the negative impact on the environment, the introduction of new technologies at enterprises, the strengthening of environmental expertise and the consideration of the environmental factor in making managerial decisions, population and other activities. The regions became able to pursue an environmental policy only in the conditions of boosting the innovative activity in the leading industries. Together with the consolidation of environmental funds, this must be the main reason for efficient financing of environmental policy. So ecologization of industrial region economy means environmentalization of its economic development.