Regional differentiation and strategy of spatial development of Russia

Expressing concern about the high level differences in the socio-economic situation in Russian regions, the author focuses on study of the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation as the most important document reflecting the strategic intentions of the state in relation to the development of the country’s territories. To assess the conformity of the provisions fixed in the Strategy to the real socio-economic processes of regional development, the work on the example of the Siberian Federal District regions analyzes the dynamics of interregional differences and the main socio-economic parameters that determine the place of the studied regions against the all-Russian background. The results of the statistical analysis and graphic interpretation of the information allowed the author to refute the thesis of the stabilization about the population of the Russian regions, laid down in the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation, and also to express skepticism regarding the decrease in interregional differentiation in view of the revealed increase in the asymmetry in the distribution of average wages in the regions of the Russian Federation. The current level of territorial gaps creates a disparity regarding the possibilities for the realization of social rights of Russian citizens, therefore, the shift in the attention of the state authorities from simple rhetoric about the need to level interregional inequalities to fixing the system of meaning-making intentions of the state in the form of appropriate strategic and program documents should be considered as a certain transformational shift. Therefore, recognizing as a positive the fact of the adoption the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation at the state level, the author points out its disadvantages, paying attention to the assumption by the Strategy of non-fulfillment of the planned measures, which devalues the content of this entire document. The main conclusion of the study was the statement that it is impossible to solve the problem of eliminating the accumulated interregional imbalances without a radical transformation of the raw material model of Russia’s economic development.