The article presents the results of many years of work on the study of golden currant (Ribes aureum Pursh.) in the conditions of the steppe zone of the Southern Urals. The study was carried out on the experimental plot of Orenburg Experimental Station of Horticulture and Viticulture in the 2009-2019. The object of research was varieties Samocvet, Uralskaya and forms 1-7, 2-1, 2-9, 2-6, 3-2 of golden currant. The soil cover of the experimental site was represented by ordinary chernozem, the humus content in the arable layer was 2.7-3.0 %, the phosphorus content was 18.4 mg/kg, potassium – 358.6 mg/kg, nitrogen – 96.6 mg/kg. There was shown the development of the scientific foundations of crop breeding in the steppe zone of the Southern Urals, where the gene pool was first created, from which new varieties with a complex of economically valuable traits were developed, and promising forms were identified. As a result of the research, promising varieties and forms were distributed by maturation period into 2 groups: medium (Samotsvet, Uralskaya, 1-7, 2-1, 2-9) and late (2-6, 3-2). Adapted varieties (Samotsvet, Uralskaya) and forms (2-6, 2-1) were revealed, which are distinguished by high productivity from a bush (from 4.8 to 5.6 kg), number of berries in a cluster (from 4.6 to 6 pcs. ), berry weight (from 3.4 to 4.1 g). A brief economic and biological characteristics of selected forms and varieties are given.