The relevance of this scientific research is justified by the increased attention that the economic community pays to economic security, for the development of microeconomic systems in modern conditions of uncertainty, caused by global challenges, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the study is to identify the principles of the formation of an adaptive management system of economic security of enterprises in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors founded the methodological basis for the formation of the adaptive management system of the economic security of companies, based on the identification of the systemic approach and specific principles of compliance, duality and feedback, as well as the functions of adaptive management. The conducted research makes possible to generalize that the formation of a system of adaptive management of the economic security of enterprises in the COVID-19 conditions is a special type of management activity, which involves the use of a wide range of measures and tools for making effective management decisions, which are characterized by timeliness, flexibility, creativity and innovation.

The article examines topical issues of formation of economic security of enterprises in the current economic context, which is characterized by a dynamically changing environment and an increase in the number and quality of threats. The implementation of stable activities requires strengthening of measures to ensure the economic security of enterprises in the strategic and tactical horizons to increase the competitiveness. A critical analysis of the exitant approaches to the definition of «economic security» using the system approach is carried out and the following types of approaches are identified: process (or activity); static (security as a state); integral (combining static and activity approaches); system (security as a system). It is proved that, depending on the stage of economic development, available productive forces and production relations, a certain sufficient level of economic security of enterprises, along with its sustainability and competitiveness in selected markets, is formed. Implementing a balanced effective management makes it possible to monitor the impact of negative factors on the enterprise’s activities, to develop preventive measures to eliminate and obviate their impact on economic security, and to ensure manageability of achieving the goals. The carried out study generalizes the characteristics of «economic security of enterprise». Its formation should be divided into short- and long-term perspectives, since economic security is an important component to fully provide the activities of an enterprise and optimize the use of available resources, and is the basis for ensuring future-oriented economic stability.