Considering the widespread of Covid-19 and its impact on the population health in Russian regions, it is necessary to examine the impact of the pandemic (as excess mortality) on the regional socio-economic development in 2020. Based on a quantitative and qualitative model, the study explains the process of coronavirus diffusion at the regional level, using information from foreign publications, Russian regional statistics and a database of legal documents «Consultant +». The concept of spatial diffusion, developed in the 1950s-1980s, was chosen as the research methodology. The study methods include a cartographic analysis of the monthly dynamics of coronavirus spread in Russian regions and regression analysis of regional differences in excess mortality regarding the most significant explanatory variables. The developed regression model explains the spread of Covid-19 across Russian regions in 2020, while the proposed qualitative model «network-place-scaling» describes the spatial diffusion of the virus. The conducted analysis confirmed the relationship between the spread of the virus and economic specialisation of regions. Simultaneously, such widely discussed factors as physical density, urbanisation level and per capita income did not show significant correlation with excess mortality. The study revealed the following results. There is a significant discrepancy between the actual situation in Russian regions and expected developments according to the simplified centre-periphery model. The important regression variables, explaining the interregional differences in excess mortality in 2020, include the share of employed in contact-intensive wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing (large production teams); proportion of the population over 65; the number of retail facilities per 1000 people. The qualitative model «network-place-scaling» was deemed suitable for explaining the mechanisms of the spread of coronavirus in Russian regions. Future studies should focus on examining the mechanisms and socio-economic consequences of the pandemic at the municipal level of large cities and urban agglomerations in Russia.

The paper demonstrates the contradictions and paradoxes of Russia's Transpolar territories, related to transformation of the Arctic from a global periphery to a global frontier. The first paradox is the strong contrasts between the poles of poverty and wealth in light of the fact that Russia is the absolute champion of GRP produced in the Arctic. Other paradoxes are as follows. The Arctic imports a large amount of fuel and lubricant materials while simultaneously exporting energy carriers from the region; while it has been acknowledged that it is necessary to create new forms of regional management, this priority is not reflected in any way in specific grant policies of the main scientific foundations; the Arctic is the largest resource region, but efforts on an innovation search to manage natural resource use are minimal and there is not even a textbook on resource economics; in its Asiatic part, Russia's Arctic zone is becoming a pioneer in onshore and shelf exploration, but it has almost no near-coastal cities prepared and equipped to carry out the functions of outpost bases. Lists of Arctic land territories from federal regulatory legal acts demonstrate multiple incongruities and inconsistencies. In the world, the Arctic territories have become a testing ground for innovations in state and municipal administration, regulation of resource management based on principles of polycentric administration and ecosystem management, coadministration, etc. This actively includes factors of tacit knowledge of indigenous peoples, long-term residents, and experts. Although Russia has the most extensive Arctic territory, its efforts in this plan are minimal. In the short term, the main problem in developing the Arctic will be to provide social support to large and small subjects of the Arctic economy. This will require joint actions on the part of authorities at various levels and the local community, as well as the responsible behavior of corporations.

T he problem of single-industry towns has become increasingly relevant recently in light of the crises in the Russian and global economy. The present article attempts to examine this issue by using methodological approaches adopted internationally to analyse singleindustry towns. At the heart of these approaches is the concept of path dependence, coupled with a method to identify the factors blocking innovative search in the so-called new industrial policy. The authors critically reevaluate the situation in single-industry towns, in contrast to the existing assessments that are widespread in Russian language research. Rather than analysing industrial sectoral specialization, they suggest studying the core of economic Keywords: single-industry towns; lock-in in innovative development; innovative search; local community; new industrial policy; entrepreneurship; path dependence development i.e. a city's capacity to upgrade its local production system and to initiate innovative search.The article describes the main principles of new industrial policy, which is vulnerable not so much to a narrow specialization but primarily to a package of technological, political, and cognitive lock-ins. These lock-ins prevent the growth of an innovative sector in single-industry towns and stop local communities from being able to adapt to changing economic conditions. The authors show the possibilities and concrete directions of innovative search in various singleindustry towns in Russia. They give recommendations on the key policy instruments that can help overcome the existing lock-ins in monoprofile Russian towns.

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