Mono-company towns within the strategic planning system in Russia

During the reforms, many Russian mono-company towns (single-industry municipalities) faced serious economic and social challenges. Their state support has not produced the sustainable results for a long time and today needs to be updated. Besides, the ongoing transition to the strategic planning system requires the new legal and methodological tools of the state policy in relation to these towns. The study proves that it is necessary to integrate this policy into a unified system of strategic priorities of the spatial development in the Russian economy. The mono-company towns' support programs are to be coordinated with the entire system of strategic planning documents at both federal and regional levels. The author concludes that the state policy in relation to mono-company towns should focus not only on the recovery of economic activity within these territories but also on the strengthening the role of these towns as the new “points” of innovative economic development, including small-scale entities and their cooperative interaction with core enterprises.