Composition of Arctic Territories for State Support: Which Way to Choose?

Due to the fact that currently there are several lists of Arctic territories for state support, the article describes possible options for changing their composition in the forecast period of the next decade: from complete unification of all lists to, on the contrary, extreme diversification (each list has its own tasks of state support). The research question of the article is to determine the benefits and costs of each scenario for the “set” of Arctic territories for government support. Main results: 1) four scenarios of evolution of the current system of state support of the Arctic and northern territories according to the geographical factor (composition of territories for support) — a) optimal-administrative; b) anti- district; c) polyphonic; d) limited diversity; 2) radical anti-district and optimal-administrative scenarios, comfortable for federal executive authorities, carry the highest integral risks. The polyphonic “evolutionary” scenario carries minimal risks, when, simultaneously with the preservation of the institution of northern regional guarantees and compensation, institutions of the multifaceted Arctic are established — for resident investors, geostrategic, and entrepreneurial. But it also turns out to be the most expensive for the federal budget; 3) for the integral scenario, it is advisable to take into account the following elements of the described scenarios: multiple lists of Arctic regions for different forms of state support; preservation in a limited form of the former regional institution of social support for the northern and Arctic territories; full support for small and medium-sized manufacturing entrepreneurs in the Arctic and North, primarily in areas with limited delivery times for goods; gradual transformation of support for localities equated to regions of the Far North, from northern and Arctic institutions to all-Russian regional ones; introduction of institutions that encourage the technological transformation of the previous industrial structure and the formation of a new digital structure throughout the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.