Russia – Consultancy Services for Russian Entrepreneurs (CSRE)

The CSRE program worked to strengthen both small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and business support institutions (BSI) through the creation and distribution of replicable models of private ownership and modern management. The goal of the program was to enhance the financial sustainability of BSIs through improved institutional development and increased capacity to provide high quality business services to the SME sector. The CSRE program was implemented through four regional offices in Moscow, Saratov, Yekaterinburg and Khabarovsk. During the life of the project, U.S. experts completed 132 training programs and 533 consulting sessions to a total of 12,256 managers and employees of SMEs and BSIs. CSRE fielded 169 experts for consultancies in Russia and recruited an additional 99 experts for U.S.-based assignments. The program focused on the provision of business services including management, marketing, financial analysis, business planning, human resource and organizational development. In addition, technology specialists were recruited with expertise in specific industry sectors including tourism, information technology, consumer goods, service industries, agribusiness, non-timber wood products and light industry.