A fundamentally new characteristic of the policy in relation to the development of rural areas is the achievement of a high standard of living of the rural population due to non-material factors of development, namely, the quality of the social environment and the state of the environment. In the new model of rural development, the main element is social capital and the level of development of rural social networks based on Internet technologies. Digitalization contributes to the active involvement of the rural population of Russia in network social interaction. Social networks are more important for rural residents than for urban residents, since they neutralize the territorial disunity of villages and provide access to information. They become a structural component of social capital, a condition and factor of its formation and reproduction. However, the level of digitalization in rural areas remains insufficient and is significantly inferior to urban areas. The development and improvement of social capital contributes to the use of hidden intangible resources, the disclosure of the potential of rural areas, the growth of its competitiveness, the formation of economic and social ties.

A model for assessing the competitiveness of rural areas in the region has been developed, which allows analyzing the parameters of the actual socio-economic situation on the basis of statistical data and expert assessments in order to make management decisions aimed at leveling and mitigating the consequences of crisis phenomena. The system of indicative indicators for assessing the main areas of rural life: economic, institutional, innovative, social, labor, and environmental. The integral indicator of the competitiveness of rural areas based on an assessment of the extent to which the characteristic levels of performance target values, the position of the state management and key customers. To calculate the indicator, we used the multivariate average method, which generalizes the levels of characteristics of the studied sample in order to further rank the elements. The weight coefficients for each component of the model were determined by the expert assessment method based on a survey of respondents – rural residents and experts in the field of rural development. The results of testing the model on the materials of rural areas of the Rostov region are presented.

Integration processes in the EAEU are currently developing against the backdrop of new global geo-economic, scientific, technological, and socio-economic challenges, and there is a constant active comprehensive development of cooperation with external partners, which is one of the important components of the successful functioning of the EAEU. An urgent task is to develop theoretical and methodological provisions for managing the processes of transnationalization and integration of the agricultural sector of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. To this end, a system of indicators for assessing the effectiveness of measures to manage the processes of transnationalization in agriculture was formed. The dependence of development of the industry on an effective program for adapting organizations to new economic conditions was established, which should take into account the complex of processes in the market, political, economic and other factors affecting the effectiveness of activities and make provisions for managing the processes of transnationalization in agriculture. The use of indices and indicators of transnationalization and integration will make it possible to monitor and exert a managerial impact on the integration processes and the interpenetration of economic complexes of the Union countries in the context of inclusion in global economic systems.