Trends in the regional structure formation of Russian exports of agro-food products

The article analyses the problems of the Russian export development of agro-food products, its regional structure formation, and implementation effectiveness of competitive advantages of the regions in the world food market in the context of modern foreign economic challenges. The relevance of the problem is due to the need to increase national competitiveness, involve the entities of the Russian Federation in export activities to equalize the development level. Different Russia’s regions have unique resources and features of functioning. On the one hand, this leads to their differentiation. On the other hand, it is a source of development and formation of competitive advantages. In the article, based on statistical data on the export of agricultural raw materials and food in Russia for 2001-2018, the author has calculated the changes in the regional structure of exports of agro-food products, the coefficients of regional variation in the volume of exports of agro-food products, its share in total exports. As a result, the paper reveals a high spatial differentiation of exports of agro-food products. During the study period, there was the preservation of the reginal structure of agro-food exports which led to an increase in the uneven spatial development. Fifteen regions account for 70-80% of exports of agricultural raw materials and food. The coefficient of exports variation of food products and agricultural raw materials increased from 202% in 2001 to 258% in 2018. The main number of regions is focused on the domestic market. The article shows that there is a tendency to reduce the differentiation of the entities of the Russian Federation by the share of agricultural raw materials and food in the total exports of the region. The coefficient of variation for this indicator decreased from 214% in 2010 to 125% in 2018. The grouping of Russia’s entities for the export of agro-food products revealed that the leading positions in the export of agro-food products are occupied by regions that have competitive advantages of the “first nature”. Competitive advantages, based on innovative processes, are poorly realized. Taking into account the obtained results, the research presents recommendations for improving the regional export of agro-food products.