MECHANISMS OF STATE SUPPORT FOR GREEN-ORIENTED SMALL BUSINESS ENTITIES

Abstract

The article analyzes the mechanisms of state support for small business entities oriented toward the green economy. The classical instruments of green policy — carbon taxation, emissions quota trading, and green bonds — were historically designed for large emitters, and their administrative thresholds and minimum volume requirements effectively leave small entities outside their coverage. The aim of the study is to assess the correspondence of these instruments to the scale of small business and to identify the strong and weak links of the support system currently taking shape in Uzbekistan. The methods of content analysis of legal acts, instrument classification, comparative and institutional analysis are applied. The analysis demonstrates that the effective mechanism for small business is not the instrument itself but the intermediation chain: national taxonomy — sovereign or bank green bond — targeted credit line — entity. In Uzbekistan the upper links of this chain have already been built: in 2023 the National Green Taxonomy was approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 561, the country became the first in the CIS to place sovereign green bonds worth UZS 4.25 trillion, and in 2024 approximately USD 1 billion in sustainability bonds was mobilized through banks. However, the “last mile” of the chain — the link reaching the microfirm — remains weak. Moreover, the volume of implicit subsidies for conventional energy substantially exceeds that of green support, generating an opposing price signal.