Improving the efficiency of managing regional investment projects

The purpose of this work is to develop a concept for the management of regional investment projects which lead to more effective economic growth. The paper defines the decisive role of investments and investment policy in ensuring sustainable economic growth. A key element in the implementation of investment policy is the support for regional investment projects. The paper examines a set of approaches to the definition of regional investment projects. The authors provide a definition of their own, which gave grounds for socio-economic efficiency and synchronization with strategic documents devoted to regional development. The authors identify a set of objectives for the implementation of regional investment projects for various levels of power. Regional executive authorities will support the regional investment projects which will ensure the interests of the region, while federal authorities will do so to eliminate the spatial polarization among the countrys regions. At the same time federal authorities are not always able to choose effective projects to support. The paper shares findings from the analysis of the international experience of the distribution of powers between regional and federal authorities in the management of regional investment projects. The analysis indicates that German experience is of the greatest relevance for Russian practice. The work brings forward a concept for the management of regional investment projects on the basis of the portfolio approach. The concept involves the shift of the selection function to regional authorities when federal authorities provide the resource support. In order to accommodate the interests of both parties, it is proposed to work out a portfolio-building strategy that is based on federal strategic documents. It is recommended that the choice of projects for the inclusion into the portfolio should be based on the effectiveness and risk assessment. In addition, it is suggested to implement the practice of monitoring the implementation of regional investment projects. In summary, the paper describes a concept that will help increase the efficiency of the management of regional investment projects.