M a ny r eg ion s i n Ru s si a meet now t roubles w ith thei r f i n anc ia l p osit ion . O ne of t he r e a son s of the given situation is the incompleteness of the process of powers’ division. After the ten years of the federal reform, many of the powers still are not demarcated at all; many - are not fully demarcated and other have not sufficient financial provision. The reason of such a poor situ a tion is w ron g u nder st a nd i n g of t he b a sic pr i nciple s of dec ent ra l i zation . T h i s ar t icle an a l y zes the limits of decentralization, among which - the effectiveness of implementing powers (the pr inciple of the best level); the arch itecture of t he s ystem of executive power and the pos sibi l ity of financial provision of transmitted powers. In the article the author comes to the conclusion about the need of the inventory of powers at all levels of government and ensuring them with budgetary resources, which should take place continuously on the basis of modern software. All this brings to the idea of the necessity of a Unified register of powers, which, in addition to its other functions, should make possible quick assessment of the effectiveness of the powers’ execution.