The environmental "cost" of doing business in the Southern federal district

The article explores the issues of heterogeneity of economic development of subjects (regions) of the Southern Federal District, analyzes the impact of the economic activity on main indicators of pollution, which largely determine the quality of the natural environment. Authors show an assessment of air quality, recorded discharges of legal entities by contaminated wastewater, examines trends in waste formation and consumption in the subjects of the Southern Federal District, most of which belong to the type of old industrial regions. The authors believe that the sustainable development of the mixed economy of Southern Russia needs measures of systemic nature, aimed at the rational use of resources in the process of managing and preserving the environment that requires correction of the district and regional strategies and programs for socio-economic development. That is now the priority of the strategic territorial management, which involves the modernization of the economic complex of the Southern Federal District, taking into account the environmental imperative. The necessity of a transformation of Federal Districts into territorial centers for economic development, characterized by the economic space of a higher quality is becoming increasingly evident.