Inter-municipal international cooperation as a way to improve state and municipal governance: the experience of the Leningrad region

Cross-border cooperation as a type of international cooperation is carried out and has become an important factor, primarily in the North-West Federal District on the borders with the Baltic and Nordic countries. At the turn of the millennium cross-border economic cooperation has become a full-fledged regional development mechanism with significant financial and organizational resources and needing management. A number of regions, first of all, the Leningrad Region, the Kaliningrad Region, the Republic of Karelia effectively develop cross-border cooperation at the municipal level. In the article, in particular, a number of the most successful practices of cross-border cooperation of the Leningrad region are considered.