The relevance of the research topic is determined by the need to form a balanced growth model for resource-type regions in the context of sanctions. For this, the development of small and medium-sized businesses is significant. However, the relationship of small and medium-sized businesses with mining, as shown by a bibliographic search, is poorly understood. The purpose of the work is to determine the nature of the relationship between mining and small and medium-sized businesses in resource-type regions of Russia. Methods – structural analysis, descriptive statistics, Student’s t-test, paired Student’s t-test, correlation analysis. It has been established that the share of small and medium-sized businesses in resource-type regions is significantly lower. In most regions, it is about 17-18%, while the share of mining is usually 2 times higher. These indicators have a statistically significant negative correlation. At the same time, the low share of small and medium-sized businesses cannot be explained by the resource curse, since in absolute terms it generally corresponds to the average level. In the most severe, sparsely populated regions (Chukotka Autonomous District, Magadan Oblast, Tyumen Oblast), the absolute and relative contribution of mining to the gross regional product is very high. This explains the low relative share of entrepreneurship, the development of which is constrained by low population density, its outflow, spending money outside the region, as well as large income stratification. In more favorable climatic conditions, with a higher population density of the territory (Belgorod region, Udmurt Republic, etc.), more balanced proportions of mining and small and medium-sized businesses in the gross regional product are achieved.