Municipal-territorial system in Russia: adaptation to diversity

Local self-government in Russia, as in many countries of the world, has a rich history of its formation and development. With the adoption of Federal Law 131-FZ “On the general principles of organization of local self-government in the Russian Federation” dated October 06, 2003 and with the implementation of the next municipal reform, to January 01, 2009, throughout the country a unified control system at the local level was established. However, due to various reasons it was not possible to create a truly independent and self-sufficient bottom level of government, the level that is closest to population. One of such reasons lies in the inefficiency of the system of municipal territorial structure: the grid (borders) of the municipalities were been formed without taking into account the availability of an appropriate resource base and their endowment with financial and economic independence. Therefore, in some villages, up to 70% of local budget expenditures is allocated on the provision of local governments functioning. In this regard, it is important to study the characteristics, trends and problems of municipal-territorial system in Russia, and on the basis of the results obtained it is necessary to substantiate the recommendations to improve the efficiency of organizing a local self-government system, which is the purpose of the present study. In addition to the analysis of statistical data, the article uses the results of the surveys of heads of municipal formations of the Vologda Oblast, the surveys are carried out by the staff of the Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Territories of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is shown that municipalities in Russia vary considerably in their size and population. However, the processes of their transformation (merger, division, change of status) in most cases do not give a sufficient effect for further development. So, by the end of 2015, only 14% of heads of rural set- tlements in the Vologda Oblast assessed the results of the merger as positive. To solve the above problems, the author of the paper proposes an algorithm for forming the optimal municipal-territorial structure and recommendations on introducing adjustments to the legal and regulatory framework adapted to the diversity of Russian territories. In addition, as an issue for discussion, the author outlines the problem of legitimacy of the practice of converting municipal districts into urban districts, the practice currently applied in a number of subjects of the Russian Federation and not directly stipulated by current legislation. Thus, it can serve as a basis for further research on the subject.