Interregional Relations in the Context of Economic Diversification of a Russian Region (Exemplified by the Kemerovo Region – Kuzbass)

Russia is moving towards a sovereign economic model, which implies increasing efficiency through improving synergy of interregional interaction. Its growth can become a tool for the development of the internal potential of a country’s territories. This study is devoted to trade and economic relations of the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass – with other Russian regions. The purpose of the article is to present some results of the analysis conducted by the authors and to open a discussion of new growth points for Kuzbass, which will be based on cooperation with other constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The Kemerovo region is an example of an export-oriented raw materials (coal) economic model. Against the backdrop of growing systemic challenges and threats to such a development model, an obvious option for increasing the economic resilience of Kuzbass is moving away from coal dependence through economic diversification. Interregional cooperation can be considered as one of the key tools for its implementation. Current ties between the Kemerovo region and other constituent entities of the Russian Federation are mainly determined by several factors: historically established specialization of the region’s economy, significant economic disintegration of Kuzbass as a result of the reforms of the 1990s, and the logic of development of business assets located in the region. An analysis of the level of inclusion of the Kemerovo region in the interregional economic space, based on Rosstat data, using the example of the export and import of goods within the country, made it possible to establish the relatively high closeness of the region’s trade ties with the constituent entities of the Siberian Federal District and the predominance of industrial and technical products in the structure of Kuzbass export and import within the country. This allows asserting that there are preconditions for the reintegration of Kuzbass into the economic space of Siberia in the process of diversifying its economy. However, it is important to improve the coordination of regional strategies to avoid excessive competition between them and to balance the development of territories. Authors’ contribution. Yu.A. Fridman – idea suggestion and justification of the methodology for studying the interregional relations of Kuzbass in the context of the issue of diversification of its economy, summary of analytical research materials, and formulating conclusions; E.Yu. Loginova – justification of the relevance of the study, analysis of general trends in the development of economic partnership practices of the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass with other Russian regions, summary of research results; G.N. Rechko – collection, systematization, and analysis of data on the aspects under analysis of interregional relations of the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass, visualization, and interpretation of research results.