The article deals with the financial support for small and medium-sized businesses in St. Petersburg, implemented by the government of the Russian Federation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequences of which had a negative impact on the stability of the economic system. Since the crisis caused by the coronavirus had the strongest negative impact on the sector of small and medium-sized businesses, this determined the main goal of the study - to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of financial support for SMEs in St. Petersburg, which is provided by the state. Various federal and regional measures of state support for small and medium-sized businesses were studied. As a result of the study, it was found that financial support for St. Petersburg entrepreneurship provided by the state was not always effective, since the existing measures were not enough to overcome the consequences of the crisis.