“The Concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020”, adopted in 2008 (hereinafter - the Concept), reasonably can be considered as one of the most significant - since the beginning of economic reforms in Russia – attempt to form an idea of the long-term prospects for socio-economic development of the country, as well as the necessary steps to ensure the stability of this development. The document is characterized by a systematic vision of the actual and perspective trends in the economic and social development of the country; the desire to use a scenario approach in setting the goals of the Concept; the intention to provide the formulated priorities with the necessary economic resources, institutional and legal innovations. Among these items of fundamental importance is the policy of developing economic and legal mechanism of federal relations and priorities’ setting for the state policy of regional development. After the Concept was adopted (this document is currently listed as valid in all databases), it was changed several times. The nature of these changes is very different, but their general vector is clearly visible: to remove from the document those benchmarks, targets, etc., which quite soon after the adoption of the document appeared to be clearly unattainable. The article discusses some of the key items of the Concept and the reasons why the document was not implemented.

The impact of coronavirus on the socio-economic development of Russian regions inevitably depends on the structure of their economy, which is analyzed in the article on the basis of official data on the employment structure. The contribution of different sectors of the economy (primary, secondary, and tertiary), the role of informal employment and the budget sector, and the share of employment in the most affected industries are evaluated. Not only short-term, but also long-term structural problems of the regional economy are highlighted. It is shown that the negative impact of coronavirus mainly on the service sector in the context of the Russian Federation subjects is evident in federal cities, in economically underdeveloped regions with an underdeveloped real sector of the economy, as well as regions that specialize in certain types of services (tourism, foreign trade, complex services). For economically underdeveloped regions, the impact of coronavirus is deepened by a high share of the informal sector (which limits the possibility of obtaining state support), but is softened by an increased share of employees who receive wages from the budget system. The reduced share of the service sector in agricultural regions means that they are less dependent on coronavirus, but it confirms the need to develop the service sector as a basis for improving the quality of life of the population. At the same time, almost everywhere there is a need to restructure the service sector: reducing the role of simple services (primarily trade), in favor of complex ones related to high technologies and innovations and to the social sphere, especially health.

The transition of many states at the end of the twentieth century to democratic forms of government was called to increase the efficiency and transparency of the activities of representative bodies of power. Along with the implementation of the principle of subsidiarity in relation between Centre, regions and municipalities, this was to strengthen the state system. However, for many post-Soviet and developing countries, the import of Western democratic institutions was accompanied (and is accompanied) by the destruction of territorial integrity and the growth of corruption. This undermines the confidence of citizens in liberal democracy and causes nostalgia for a «strong hand». The work is devoted to the analysis of the problems associated with the export of democracy to the countries with middle and low income per capita. Economic theory due to the implicit assumption of homogeneity of the socio-economic space as usual. In connection this, the problem of secession is ignored, becomes relevant for the country-importer of Western democratic institutions. The export of institutions is an effective and rentable substitute for military-political operations for exporting countries. A paradoxical addition to these exports is the corruption of local elites, which contributes to allied relations with West or the transition of the political and economic establishment to the «external management» regime. An essential feature of modernity is the prohibition of territorial seizures, which contributes to an increase in the number of states. However, a significant part of them has only negative sovereignty, being unable to provide its citizens with the necessary amount of public goods.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously damaged national socio-economic systems, causing the deepest economic recession since the Great Depression. Social reality has been divided into the period before and after COVID-19. Neither nation-states, nor national health systems, nor economic-centrist national communities, nor national models of public choice aggregation have managed stand the test of the coronavirus pandemic. Post-coronavirus reality will begin to form after the completion of the COVID-19 pandemic and will be based on completely different principles of functioning. That is why even today theorists and practitioners are thinking about the future of the post-crisis world, the hallmark of which is absolute uncertainty. The methodological approaches developed by the new political economy make it possible to rethink the phenomenon of partnership between the state and private business as a mechanism to assess the effectiveness of alternative options for the institutional structure of the new reality, the functions of the state in society with universal values in its basis, in models of aggregation of public choice, etc., taking into account the realities of the post-coronavirus world.

The article discusses the spatial development of the South of Western Siberia on the basis of economic integration of related regions within the macro-region: South Siberian Economic Region (SSER). The cooperation of the regions of this economic region will make it possible to diversify the structure of the economy and increase their integrated economic potential, creating opportunities to withstand the adverse socio-economic challenges of the new economy. Given the state’s limited ability to stimulate the socio-economic development of regions, inter-regional economic integration within the macro-region can be considered as one of the mechanisms that activate the sources of transition to the path of balanced economic growth and access to the average Russian parameters of living standards. Rapprochement of the regions can already be observed in the framework of joint projects: the agro-processing Siberian Priobie and tourist and recreational areas. The article proposes a model for organizing economic cooperation between the regions of South-West Siberia.

The implementation of the national project «Digital Economy» requires the focused efforts of all interested parties and makes special demands on regional management systems. This requires improving the practice of managing digital transformation processes in the regions in order to improve the quality of life of people and dynamic development. The article discusses the conditions for the formation and development of the digital economy in the Southern Federal District (SFD). It is noted that the digital economy provides great opportunities for development, increases the level of information openness and accessibility, reduces bureaucratic barriers, but on the other hand, digitalization processes are associated with inevitable difficulties, uncertainty and risks. It is established that in all subjects there are necessary program documents for digital transformation. The strategic documents adopted in the Southern Federal District are aimed at stimulating and developing digital technologies. The digital economy needs competent specialists, for this it is necessary to create conditions for training personnel, improve the education system, the labor market, create motivation systems for the development of the necessary competencies. In scientific studies, insufficient attention has been paid to the processes of the influence of digital changes on the innovative activity of regional actors. The article presents an analysis of various criteria that affect the possible development of the digital economy and the socio-economic development of the Southern Federal District. The analysis made it possible to identify prospects for the further development of the macroregion. The results of the study can be used in the development and adjustment of regional strategic programs for the development of digital society, as well as material for further theoretical and applied research in the development of digital processes in regional systems.

In 2019 the regional budgets revenues grew at a high rate, including due to the outpacing growth of Federal transfers under the condition of the economic recession. Corporate income tax, personal income tax and excise tax receipts provided the growth of own income, while property tax receipts decreased. The growth rate of regional budget expenditures was significantly faster than the growth rate of revenues. The priorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation were healthcare and the national economy. High growth rates of expenditures did not always lead to an increase in the volume of public debt – its total amount decreased by the end of the year. Only in some regions of the Russian Federation there was a significant increase in the amount of debt. Estimates of possible budget revenue losses that regions will inevitably face in the context of the impending economic crisis allow us to identify a group of Russian regions for which these problems will be most acute.

Favorable conditions for 2018 and 2019 allowed to create significant reserves due to oil and gas revenues. At the same time, the nature of fiscal policy turned from restriction to a stimulating one. The implementation of national projects and the growth of budget expenditures provided a significant contribution to the GDP growth rate while consumer and investment demand slowing down. In the conditions of the 2020 crisis, the accumulated reserves make it possible to compensate for the shortfall in federal budget revenues, but the consequences for the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation may be more serious, despite the lower sensitivity to shocks from oil prices. The increase in the sensitivity of revenue to GDP dynamics, noted in recent years, suggests that the consequences of the current crisis for the budget system of the Russian Federation may be significantly worse than in 2009.

The task of determining the criteria of economic security for our country as a whole and each of its regions is of particular importance today in conditions of growing economic and social problems in post-pandemic Russia. The Russian management practice already has some experience in applying the criteria of economic security at the national level in the period from 1996 to 2007. The cancellation of the monitoring the economic security indicators became a serious management mistake, because the government lost control of the monitoring the security of the Russian economics from internal and external threats. The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation in 2019 made attempt to restore the monitoring system of the actual and forecast level of economic security by the most important indicators. Today in a real crisis situation we observe objective prerequisites for the adjusting of the conditions for ensuring national security, and the social factor occupies an increasingly significant place in the formation of its target and maximum permissible values. The article offers the author’s vision of the development of the concept of national socio-economic security, approaches to the formation of a unified system of assessment criteria for socio-economic security at the federal and subfederal levels, as well as managerial reforms, which are necessary in these conditions.

Even in times of crisis, the key to stability of the modern banking system remains largely the concepts of banking regulation and supervision used by supervisors. In the context of globalization and external challenges, the Central Bank of Russia is adapting foreign concepts of regulation and supervision to the realities of the Russian financial system in order to ensure sustainable socio-economic development of the country. That is why the article is devoted to the analysis of the effectiveness of modern concepts of banking regulation and supervision. The article lists and characterizes the most common concepts in the use of banking regulation and supervision, as well as provides an author’s view of modern alternative approaches to the organization of banking regulation and supervision, which can allow the Central Bank of Russia to improve the applied supervisory regime.

A regional policy is one of the important tools of supporting the state territorial integrity. Approaches and principles applied, and methods and tools employed are directly dependent on the historical track and socio-economic reality within a country, as well as on the geopolitical situation in the world. A regional policy of any contemporary state, including the Russian State, should take into account the challenges engendering threats to the national safety and territorial integrity of a country under the turbulent conditions and in the situation of the world order re-formatting. The basic concepts of a regional policy in the geopolitical turbulence circumstances should be guided by the strategic goal of preserving the national unity. Use of affirmative action within the regional policy of contemporary states, according to the authors’ opinion, engenders some threat to the territorial integrity because it generates certain prerequisites for separatism. The analysis of the cases of affirmative action used by some foreign states within the framework of their regional policy helps to estimate potential threats that the Russian State can meet with while realizing its regional policy.

Government designated the development of cities and urban agglomerations among measures in the field of regional development. In this regard, it should be understood how to evaluate the results of policies for the development of cities and urban agglomerations, what effects can be expected and predicted. The article considers the features of agglomeration development assessment methods. The topic of agglomerations is currently relevant – in the strategic planning documents of Russian regions, agglomerations are increasingly present every year. Federal, regional and municipal authorities speak about their development. The article presents methods for assessing the development of agglomeration in Russia. A hypothesis was put forward that there is no unified methodology for assessing agglomeration growth in Russia. We considered the following methods: the indices used in the research of PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting agency, the Institute for Urban Economics and the urban environment index, created as part of the implementation of the May decree on the strategic development of the Russian Federation until 2024 and the national project Housing and Urban Environment. Based on the results of testing the hypothesis, conclusions are drawn and possible ways to achieve positive changes are considered.