Regional Sustainable Development Strategies in Russia: the Case of the Volga Region

Abstract

In the context of reduced revenues from raw materials exports, the policy of sanctions and restrictions on access to capital and technologies, Russia faces an acute problem of finding new models of economic development. As world experience shows, economic growth cannot resume simultaneously throughout the country, it will inevitably be concentrated in specific regions – points of growth. Since the Federal government do not present a convincing strategy, some regions take the initiative and build their own development strategies. In this regard, the experience of the Volga region with a developed economy, the powerful drivers of growth, and large differences in social parameters is quite interesting. The main development goals were indicated in the Strategy of Privolzhsky Federal district’s development up to 2020. We analyzed them on the example of 7 subjects of Federation. Despite ambitious plans, the negative dynamics of many indicators remains. The growth of GRP has not reached the planned values, and social indicators continue to decline: there is a migration outflow of population and a decrease in natural population growth. Analysis of the each region's strategies showed that there are significant risks of development, the overcoming of which requires non-trivial decisions of regional governments. Keywords: development strategies, growth points, regional governments, sustainable development, social risks

Challenges of strategizing the sustainable development of regions in the context of sanctions and restrictions

“…And, finally, there is one more point that should be taken into account when considering the practice of strategizing and its information support: the factor of the vital activity and development of the region under conditions of certain restrictions, as deliberately imposed thereon due to the decisions of a geopolitical or economic nature (for example, international restrictive measures), and natural limitations in the conditions of a shortage of certain resources or lack of the opportunities (inherently associated with the territorial specifics). As S. Kirillov, S. Nikonov and A. Pakina rightly point out [1], the question of finding new models of economic development that minimizes the negative consequences of sanctions and restrictions that reduce access to capital and technology, export earnings is quite acute in regional strategic management and, accordingly, is a significant deterrent. Moreover, the concept of restrictions is not limited to the sanctions or international restrictive measures, they include any factors limiting the life of the territory and its parties, such as most of the measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection, which have highlighted the importance of a situational approach to management.…”