SMEs’ alternative financing : the case of Latvia

This article analyses the ways how companies operating in EU countries attract alternative financial resources. The importance of non-traditional, alternative/innovative financing is gaining recognition in both developed and emerging economies throughout the world. SMEs’ financing in Europe remains primarily bank based, in spite of many policies proposed to develop alternative financing instruments (e.g., adopting directives on venture capital, improving the transparency and visibility of SMEs on capital markets, etc.). The research is therefore to expose recent trends in alternative financing in EU, significantly enhancing the evidence base on this key source of entrepreneurial finance. As a source of ‘smart money’, supporting new and early stage businesses, alternative providers are widely accepted as being a critical part of the competitiveness enhancement. Generally accepted qualitative and quantitative methods of economic research were applied in this paper, including in-depth face-to-face interviews with the board members of the nine banks of Latvia, operating in the other Baltic and Nordic countries as well as 1200 companies’ owners or top managers. Main findings show that alternative financial service providers are competing and often outcompeting the traditional ones at high speed. Conducted empirical analysis shows the most available financing sources except banking products are Friends and Family (FF) and different state (including EU grants) support programmes, Venture Capital (VC) and Business Angels (BA).peer-reviewe

Evaluation of financial condition and performance optimization of the petrochemical industry organization in the context of increased financial risks

The global petrochemical industry is one of the most dynamically developing - it is twice as fast as the world GDP in terms of growth rates. Over the past 20 years, significant changes have taken place in this industry. New major players have appeared and the structure has changed. As for Russia, its share in the global petrochemical production is about 2.5%. At the same time, Russia is one of the world leaders in the production and export of hydrocarbon raw materials, where the country's share is about 12 - 19%. Currently, a steady trend in the development of polymer materials science has been observed and it will continue to develop. In the next 15 years, the demand for petrochemical products will grow by an average of 4% per year. The purpose of this study is to analyze the financial standing, assess the prospects for development and optimize the activity of one of the largest systemically important organizations of the petrochemical industry in Russia - PJSC "SIBUR Holding" in the conditions of the macroeconomic instability. To implement the research the authors have collected financial data from the reports of financial results and the balance sheets of the company. They have selected the key performance and solvency indicators in particular, liquidity, business activity, profitability, solvency and investment attractiveness. Particular attention is paid to the factors of financial risk affecting the opportunities for business expansion. Econometric modeling methods were used to determine the company's development prospects that are dependent on the internal policy of cash flow management, accounts receivable, debt, external influence of inflationary risk. Research results suggest that the continuous cash flow, namely, the formation of a policy for managing accounts payable in the crisis, has a significant impact on the further development of the company. © Universal Journal of Accounting and Finance 2021

Financial Technology for Sustainable Development

N/