Transport infrastructure as a factor of territories' development and connectedness of economic space

Issues of infrastructure development have been of concern to domestic and foreign researchers since the mid 2000s. Transport infrastructure plays a key role in the development of the economy and space. The main idea of the article is to justify the role of transport infrastructure in development of Russian territories ensuring the connectivity of the economic space. The author presents the degree of the problem study, reveals the economic essence of infrastructure, and proposes the classifi cation of its types. The article analyzes the development level of transport infrastructure in the entities of Russian Federation, which are a part of the Northwestern Federal District, reveals the main infrastructure problems that hinder the development of the territories' economy and reduce space connectivity including the low level of transport infrastructure development, disproportions in its structure and territorial unevenness. Taking into account the fact that transport infrastructure, on the one hand, contributes to the infl ow of private investment, reduces transport costs, facilitates access to new markets, i.e., stimulates the territory's development, and on the other hand, ensures the connectivity of the economic space, the work concludes that its development is necessary. The paper proves that transport infrastructure development is the prerogative and most important task of the state. The article shows the domestic experience of recent years in solving transport infrastructure problems. In particular, the Russian Federation is implementing national projects aimed at transport infrastructure development: “Comprehensive plan for modernization and expansion of the main infrastructure” and “Safe and high-quality roads”. The fi rst of them is fi nanced mainly from the federal budget due to the high cost of investment projects. Financial support for implementing the second national project depends to a certain extent on the participation of the entities of the Russian Federation and fulfi llment of their obligations to fi nance the activities. The author has concluded that successful implementation of national projects will solve the problems of ensuring the connectivity of the country's economic space and will contribute to the sustainable development of Russian territories.