Simultaneously with  the evolution  of the modern  Russian  state, federal  relations are also developing.  Since  2000, one of the priorities of state development  has been to ensure the unity  of the Russian  state. This  task was realized  through the formation  of a unified  legal system, ensuring the unity  of the system of public authority, the unity  of the status of the individual  throughout the state, the sovereignty and state integrity of the Russian Federation, the supremacy  of the Constitution  of Russia  and  federal  laws  throughout  its territory, the unity  of the  economic  space.  The  concept  of «unity  of legal space» has  steadily  entered the constitutional  and legal matter, the study of which  is devoted to quite a few theoretical studies.  No  less than  practical studies reflecting the results of the ongoing work  to ensure the unity  of the legal space in Russia.  It is impossible to carry out such a policy without ensuring genuine  legal equality  of the regions that  make  up the Russian  Federation.  The diverse and  numerous  composition of the subjects of the Russian  Federation, the diversity of their interests, factors of law-making and law enforcement  practice have given rise to a multidimensional phenomenon  consisting in the presence of different  rights (opportunities) of the subjects of the Russian  Federation  implemented  in the field of law-making (in  the presence of uniformly  established  their subjects of competence  and  powers), to which  the federal center reacts differently.  The existence of such a practice indicates a violation of the principle of equality of the subjects of the Russian  Federation among themselves  (Part 1 of art. 5 of the Constitution  of Russia)  and in relations with  federal state authorities  (Part 5 of Article 5 of the Constitution  of Russia).  Such  a view (approach)  in research on the legal equality of the subjects of the Russian  Federation and ensuring the unity of the legal space is innovative.  The  article reveals the depth of differences, the reasons and  motives for the occurrence  of such  examples, and  also suggests a  mechanism  for their  settlement, using numerous  practical examples, including based on the author’s experience.

Having  successfully passed the tests of the pandemic, the Russian  economy  has faced new challenges.  Unprecedented   sanctions  have  been  imposed  on  our  country  by  unfriendly States.  They  affected  the Bank  of Russia  and  are related  to the management  of reserves and  assets,  as a result of which  more than  half are blocked.  A number  of Russian  banks have disconnected  from the SWIFT payment  system and restricted cross-border transfers. Against the background  of such a difficult geopolitical situation, the regional economy  and the budget system were under  serious threat.  However, the «pandemic»  experience  gained allowed the Government of the Russian Federation, the Parliament, and regional management teams not to react slowly to the events taking place and take the necessary steps to contain external sanctions pressure. Priority actions were aimed at stabilizing the situation in financial markets, tax  incentives  and  reducing  regulatory restrictions, import support, speeding up budget  procedures  and  the  use of funds  from  state-owned  companies, support for SMEs and  system-forming  enterprises. The  rights of the Government  of the Russian  Federation have  been expanded  and  the opportunity  has been given to direct the funds  of the NWF for the purchase of Russian  government securities and shares of Russian  issuers, to identify specific investment  projects in the tourism industry. In addition, legislative norms have been adopted  that allow  regions to respond quickly  to changes in the geopolitical situation  and the economic situation and reduce the impact of negative factors on the budget system. This article examines  the issues of the state of regional budgets in modern  conditions, analyzes the state measures  taken  to preserve the stability  of the budget system, and  also suggests mechanisms  aimed  at further  strengthening  and  stabilizing  the situation  in the regions to ensure the balance  of regional budgets.

The  article  examines  the  process of  formation  and  manifestation   of  signs of  a  systemic crisis in the modern  economy.  The  article substantiates  why  the contradiction  between  the economic  and  social interests of economic  entities at all levels that arose in the context  of the COVID-19 pandemic  played  the role of a catalyst  in the formation  and  development of the modern  systemic crisis of a market  economy.  It is shown  that today the problems of global,  national  and  regional economic  security in their organic and  systemic relationship with  social /economic/  political/  bacteriological security are in the same row. The  author of the article carried out a theoretical analysis of trends and risks in the development  of the economy of Russia and other leading countries of the world community  in a crisis situation in 2022.  The  author of the article carried out a theoretical analysis of trends and risks in the development  of the economy of Russia and other leading countries of the world community in a crisis situation  in 2022.  The  article emphasizes  the importance  of strengthening sanctions  pressure on  the  Russian  economy  in  transforming  the  social factor  of national security into a socio-political  one and  in accelerating the development  of a systemic crisis in the modern economy.  The article shows what fundamental changes have occurred at the national  and interstate levels during the period of application of socio-political sanctions in the model of global economic relations. The  author explains on the basis of what  objective reasons traditional  principles of economic relations are being destroyed and new principles of economic  relations between  states and economic  counterparties  are being formed in the conditions  of the changed  socio-political situation  in the world.  The  article examines  the phenomenon  of geo-economic fragmentation  and  its relationship  with  the  change  in  the centers of development  and influence  in the global economy.  The author predicted the main characteristics of the functioning  of the new  system of economic relations in the post-crisis model of economic development  and Russia’s place in it.

In the context  of the implementation of the state program for the integrated  development of rural areas, the issue of assessing the quality  of the environment  of rural areas remains particularly  relevant  in order to determine  priority areas of development  and allocation  of budget  funds.  Until  now, there  was  no such  methodology, at the  same  time  there  was  a methodology  for assessing the  quality  of the  urban  environment, which  is not  applicable in rural territories,  since it does not take  into account  the specifics of their development. The  article presents a methodology  for calculating  the quality  of rural areas. The  authors emphasize  in their research the relevance of the development  of this methodology, as it will allow to assess the quality of rural areas and on its basis to propose directions for improving the policy of state regulation  within  the framework  of existing regulatory legal acts.  The authors identified the key areas of rural environment  development, 11 assessment groups and the assessment is carried out by 30 indicators for each object of assessment. A point system has been developed  for the transition  from absolute values of indicators  by indicators  to a single calculation  system.  As part of the assessment, integral indices are also formed  that allow assessing the quality of the environment  at the level of the whole country, individual regions, municipalities  and settlements.  At each level of assessment, it is possible to identify key areas of improvement, work in which  will ensure maximum effect for the growth of the quality of the rural environment  at various levels of management.

Local self-government is the most important component in the system of federative relations. The  general indicators of the country’s socio-economic development  largely depend  on the chosen model of local self-government, the mechanisms  of relations between municipalities, both  with  regional  and  federal  public  authorities.  The  recent  changes  in  the  Russian Federation at the level of constitutional  and legal regulation have changed the institutional field  of municipal  development.  These  changes  were  followed  by the development  of two important bills: the Draft Federal Law  «On Urban Agglomerations» prepared by the Ministry of  Economic  Development,  and  the  Draft  Federal  Law   «On  the  General  Principles  of Organizing Local  Self-Government in a Unified System  of Public Power», the analysis  of which  is the focus of the article.  Based  on the study  of world  experience, it is concluded that  the transformations  of the institutional  space of local self-government and  municipal development taking place in Russia, in general, correspond to global trends in spatial development.  Particular  attention  is paid to urban  agglomerations as, on the one hand, a modern  form  of spatial  organization;  and, on the  other hand, a form  of inter-municipal cooperation.

Today, there is a fairly  good level of cooperation  and  interaction  in various  spheres and on various issues between  Russia and China.  To a greater extent, this applies to trade and economic, military-political, cultural and educational  partnerships. There are quite a lot of factors contributing to this trend, but the key ones are: the presence of a high level of military-political, economic and socio-social sovereignty, as well as stability in both countries; a good level of diplomatic missions; the range of problems and dangers of the external environment are mutually  mediated  and identical  for both Russia and China;  the foreign policy courses of the countries  have  many  points of contact  in terms of vision  of global transformations and  transformations   of  the  world  market,  and  their  common  vectors  and  promising trends coincide; there are many  mutually  beneficial  projects in the field of economics, the implementation of which  depends on the level of achievement  of strategic the goals of both Russia and China both in the medium  and long term. It is important to emphasize that these trends  have  intensified, strengthened  and  acquired  a special conceptual  meaning  against the background  of heightened  military  and  political tensions in the world, the application of large-scale sectoral sanctions against Russia  by many  countries of the world, mostly by the  United  States  and  European  countries, the  strengthening  of diplomatic  confrontation between  China  and the United States, as well as in trade andin  the economic  sphere and on issues of determining  the status of fr. Taiwan. The  relevance  of studying  tactical  and strategic initiative  decisions, as well as prospects within  the framework  of the international model  of cooperation – “One belt – one road” certainly  has a high level of significance, has an applied meaning  and clearly expressed socio-economic and political expediency.  It is important  that this initiative  becomes a platform for productive  and  mutually  beneficial cooperation for countries and various organizations with the achievement  of maximum synergetic effect.  This  project should  become  the  starting point for the  implementation of the strategic vector in Russia’s international  policy – «turn to the East». The  study places clear emphasis  on the promising possibility of joint implementation of this project model of international  cooperation.

In the  new  geopolitical reality, the  problem  of ensuring  food  security  has  become  more acute both in the whole  world and in Russia.  The  Government  of the Russian  Federation has taken  a number  of short-term measures  to stimulate  agriculture and stabilize the food market.  However, there  are  a  number  of risks  and  threats  to the  agrarian  economy  in the medium  and  long term (insufficient  level of development  of the I sphere of the agroindustrial  complex, which  supplies agriculture with  means of production and material  and technical resources; dependence on imported technologies; unbalanced  institutional structure of agriculture; weak  diversification  of the rural economy  and  lagging social sphere of the village). The article analyzes these risks and threats on the basis of international and domestic statistics, including  the specifics of their manifestation  in the context  of the subjects of the Russian  Federation.  The  directions of agrarian policy are considered  in order to mitigate the mentioned  threats, including  measures  for the development  of agricultural science and commercialization of its results, stimulation of small business in the agro-industrial complex and agricultural cooperation, sustainable  development  of rural areas.

Today  we can observe a number  of fundamental changes in the interstate sphere. There  is the systemic crisis of international  law.  We  also can see the attempts to replace it with the American  concept  of a “rules-based  world  order”. In response to the  unfriendly  actions of Western  countries, Russia  has taken  a number  of measures in various fields, such as a diplomatic, economic, financial,  trade, educational, etc.  Russia’s  withdrawal from  some international  organizations  unfriendly  to  our  country  has  begun.  At  the  same  time, the legislation of the Russian Federation has accumulated a significant number of acts ratifying international  treaties (agreements) which are currently irrelevant or do not correspond to the interests of the Russian Federation, limiting its sovereignty in modern conditions. Considering the obviously  unfriendly  nature  of the activities of a number  of states, Russia  need for an inventory  and revision of it. In addition, Russia  is a member  of a number  of international organizations leading an anti-Russian policy. It makes  necessary to audit the expediency  of the country’s participation  in their activities.

The  evolutionary  socio-economic  development  of cities can be greatly accelerated  under the stimulating  effect of housing,  commercial  or infrastructure  construction  projects that change  the  structural  and  functional  organization  of  the  urban  continuum   in  a  short time. At the same time, the existing official statistical data have low spatial and temporal detail – most of the demographic  variables have  an annual  representation  in the context of  municipalities, which  does  not  allow  considering  local  transformations.   The  use  of mobile operators data  and  information  on new  housing construction  makes  it possible to identify  the  directions  of morphological  and  functional  transformation  of urban  space, linking  the  directions  and  scale of changes  with  potential  natural  and  man-made risks for the study areas.

The expert community  is actively working to determine the depth of the consequences for the domestic economy of large-scale sanctions pressure. One of the directions of such an analysis is the assessment of the situation in the social sphere and in the real sector of the economies of the constituent entities of the Russian  Federation.  It is obvious that the differences in the levels of development  of regional economies; varying degrees of depth of their immersion  in world economic relations; the volume of regional budget revenues received from the activities of foreign companies located on their territory and other factors will predetermine the amount of damage inflicted on Russian  regions. To minimize  its magnitude  and, most importantly, to develop  a viable  strategy for overcoming  the crisis,  it is not enough  to fix the scale of losses. An effective  strategy requires foresight,  and  it is impossible without  understanding the nature and direction of trends in the development  of regional economies, at least in the medium term. This article proposes one of the possible options for the methodology to answer these questions. The authors believe the approach is quite correct, because the trends in the development of the economies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation were studied based on an analysis of the situation that took place during the pandemic.  The first version of the methodology  was tested in 2021 and presented in issue 4 of the journal Federalism. Below  is a refined version of the methodology, the use of which  gave more reliable results.