In the search of a key. The state's programs of development of the Russian Far East in the end of XX - in the early of XXI centuries

In the contemporary history of the Far Eastern policy there is certain repetitiveness, we are referring to several periods when Moscow tried to ensure the development of the region by the means of special large-scale development programs. The program goals remained unreached and the approach itself appeared to be discredited and shortly after this took place a radical change of the Far Eastern policy - from the state patronage to the reliance on private capital. Program approach is based on the good the premise that the state is capable of fixing the weaknesses and to lift restrictions for the economic growth of the Far East by concentrating administrative and financial efforts on priority areas. Activation of the Far Eastern policy in response to the deteriorating geopolitical and economical conditions in the region was the most obvious reaction of the state seeking to increase its capacity at the expenses of an access to new resources and markets. Moreover, such a policy is usually based on the grand strategy (from Mikhail Gorbachev’s «new thinking» and «return to civilization» to the contemporary «turn to the East» and Vladimir Putin’s «big Eurasia») and is supported by all the power of the Far Eastern geopolitical mythology. However, as our analysis shows - this is the wrong answer Realistic development way of this territory as confirmed by experience is a slow process of individual projects with clear prospects of accessing the export markets. The key problem on this way is the state's ability to choose priorities and to keep the planned line avoiding endless expansion objectives, preferential regimes and financing scopes. The geopolitical argument used by supporters of the active Far Eastern policy rather hinders than promotes the development of the region, pushing the country to the cost savings path.