T he ta sk of i nves tment pr ov is ion of tech nolog ic a l mo der n i zation a nd i n novative development both in Russia as a whole and in its separate territories is directly tied to the activity of financial institutions of development. The article focuses on the evaluation of institutions of development activities at the federal level, since today they accumulate substantial financial resources and are able to influence the innovation activity of enterprises and promote innovative development of the regions. At the same time, the investment focus of such development institutions is still poorly aimed at solving these problems and need of a prompt adjustment towards increasing their participation i n i nves tment project s for i n novat ive r enewa l a nd development of t he dom es tic i ndu s tr i a l complex.

The relevance of import substitution problem has sharply increased due to the imposition of economic sanctions by the Western countries. Import substitution should be considered not only as «crisis response», but also as the major direction for structural and industrial policy, aimed to achieve sustainable and dynamic economic growth. In this aspect, the priorities of structural changes in industry and finding the resources for their realisation gain especial importance. As such structural priority should be considered the recovery of the investment equipment production for the main sectors of the Russian industry. Overcoming financial dependence on external financial markets is expected be realized via the formation a special investment contour, basing on the target credit emission for the financing of investment projects for structural and technological modernization of the Russian industry.

One of the eight major global development goals of humanity of the third millennium, containing in the Declaration of the Millennium Summit of the United Nations (2000), is the aim to reduce poverty by half by 2015 in comparison with1990. To achieve this aim, the authorities of every country should have a clear picture of the actual level of poverty of the population of the country. The authorities should have at their disposal adequate information about incomes and expenditures of the population and other factors, affecting the level of poverty, and as well the methods for the comprehensive analysis and forecast of poverty phenomenon for the elaboration of adequate preventive measures to reduce its scope.

During recent years significant development in Russia was gained by program and target methods of public administration. Their main objective is to ensure the increase of efficiency and productivity of public administration, to create the conditions for effective and timely achievement of the planned results. As the instrument of implementation of strategic documents a c t s t a te pr o g ra m s, pr ov i n g o pti mu m va r i a nt of ach ievement of the obje c tives a nd t he development priorities of state policy. In the sphere of information technologies’ development the State program «I n for mat ion s ociet y 2 011-202 0 » i s r ea l i z ed . For car r y i n g out a r eg u l a r as s es sment of pro duc ti vit y and efficiency of its realization, and also for an assessment of its contribution to the solution of questions of modernization and innovative development of the economy, the question of adequate methodological approaches becomes actual. The article provides the methodic of the statistical analysis, which made possible to define the factors, having impact over the development extent of information society in regions. The paper offers the model of interrelation of the main indicators of sector of ICT. The indicators of the above-named state program are used as an information base for the analysis.

The specific feature of tax authorities’ distribution of the Russian model of fiscal federalism is the fixing of federal budget revenues to the risks of external economic conjuncture (oil prices) and the revenues of regional budgets - to the risks of internal economic conjuncture risks. The change in the proportion between the customs duties and the tax on natural resources’ extraction according to the «tax maneuver» corrects the existing design. The first result of the «tax maneuver» for the federal budget was the decrease of the customs duties’ revenue, which was not compensated with the increase of revenues of the tax on natural resources’ extraction. The introduction of the consolidated groups of taxpayers’ regime for profit tax payments enforced the l i n k a ge b et we en t he r eg ional bu d get s’ r evenues a nd ex ter n al econom ic c onju nct u r e, de cr ea s i n g the opportunity of regional authorities to influence their budget revenues, using their own tax tools.

On September, the 1^st, 2013, the Bank of Russia became a mega-regulator of the Russian financial market. Special attention the Bank of Russia traditionally pays to banking regulation and supervision. According to the opinion of E.S. Nabiullina, the bank should continue tightening banking regulation and supervision for the purpose of rehabilitation of the banking sector and en hance its credibility among the population. Dur i ng last th ree years the pol icy towards tig htening banking regulation and supervision was the priority for the Bank of Russia. In this regard, it becomes important not only quantitative, but also a qualitative analysis of the Bank of Russia actions in the field of banking regulation and supervision.

A significant share within the global oil market enables Russia to position itself as an important supplier of energy resources both now and in the foreseeable future. However, technological backwardness and specificity of the industry development do not allow Russia to ach ieve h ig h ef f iciency i n oi l a nd p et r o chem ica l i nd u s tr ies , i n p a r t icu la r, t o s olve t he problem of increasing the depth of raw materials processing. In addition, the need of exploration of new fields and the increasing recoverability of existing fields in order to replenish the resource base requires t he i ntroduction of new pr od uction tech nolog ie s . E c onom ic s a nction s de pr ive domestic s t r ateg ic branches of access to market of modern technologies and credits, exacerbating the problems of the industry development. The need of technological improvement of the productive apparatus determines the development prospects not only for production, but also for transportation and processing of crude oil. Therefore, the position of the industry is defined not only with the problems, received «by inheritance», but also with new economic and political realities.

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.

The first steps in the development of inter-municipal cooperation within municipalities of neighbouring regions in the form of separate bilateral agreements firstly had been introduced long before the Federal law N 131-FZ came to power. Currently, however, the wider development of this institution is hampered with the lack of legal framework, regulating this sphere of public relations. The article analyzes the experience gained in Russia and in the EU countries, where the border territories play now an important role in the processes of economic integration. Despite the obvious progress of cross-border cooperation, its development in EU countries meets a number of factors, accounting of which appears to be necessary in the usage of Western experience in the development of cross-border cooperation among the Russian regions with adjacent territories of the neighbour states.

The paper considers methodological approaches to the region’s zoning, based on the analysis of the indicators, characterizing economic development and financial-economic independence of its constituent territories. On the basis of integral estimation of the given indicators for the Altay region, the author carries out grouping of territories, reveals the basis centers and provides a new scheme of economic zoning. The paper contains recommendations towards forming territorial clusters as the economic backbone for economic districts’ functioning in accordance with their specialization and priority directions of socio-economic development of the region as a whole.

The lack of theoretical clarity of the conceptual framework of regional studies, of clear definitions regarding its key categorical concepts, in practice evidently leads to a blurring of the regional policy content. The article shows that in many up-to-date government documents aims and objectives of the regional development programs are described highly uncertainly and allow different interpretation. As a result, objective basis for regional comparisons disappears. The q u es tion , whet her the prog r a m obje cti ves have b e en act u a l ly ach ieved, be c ome s a m at ter of d ebate. The paper makes an attempt to define the basic notions and formulate key definitions relating to the territorial aspects of socio-economic development. Particular attention is paid to the concept of «balanced regional development». The approach, proposed by the author, makes it possible to avoid the methodological difficulties in forming regional programs of socio-economic development.

One of the issues, discussed periodically by domestic experts, is the possibility (advisability) to use Federal districts’ (FD) management bodies in order to implement, as minimum, major interregional projects, as maximum - programs of the economies’ development of FD in total. As one of the arguments «against» the feasibility of recognition of these bodies’ of management right for such a role is the fact that regions, forming each FD, vary considerably in the parameters of their socio-economic development. This argument cannot be considered as valid. Interregional differences within the boundaries of FD are the mirror projection of spatial differences in levels of economic development and social sphere over the territory of the Russian Federation, which not eliminates the need for the implementation of all-national regional policy, but makes this policy necessary. Therefore, management bodies of FD cannot be excluded of the number of actors, involved in the development and implementation of state regional policy of the Russian Federation and subjects of the Federation. However, they must occupy their own place, to the definition of which may contribute the results of the integral assessment since 2000 of trends of investment and social potentials of regions, included in FD in the framework of 4 groups and 12 subgroups of subjects of the Russian Federation. It is also clear that the significance of regional differences in the boundaries of all FD, presented in the article, do not allow to accept the point of view of experts, offering to replace the management of regional development at the level of subjects of the Russian Federation with the management at the FD level. The analysis is based on the methodology, presented in previous publications in the «Federalism»journal.

T he en hanc ement of the role of loca l author ities and t h ei r r e sp on s ibi l it y for s ocio - e c onom ic development of territories makes more actual the problem of enhancing the efficiency of local self-government. Assessments of the results of the local self-government reform by heads of municipalities indicate that most of the problems in this sphere still remain unresolved. The key areas of state regulation of this institution of power, in the opinion of municipalities’ heads, are the following: improvement of the federal legislation with the aim of strengthening financial and economic foundations; implementation of a set of organizational measures, promoting coordination between regional and local authorities, as well as municipalities and their constituent settlements.

Sanctions and rapid decline of hydrocarbon prices have «drawn a line» under that stage of Russian economy development, when unsustainable use of the Federal budget revenues was not fatal for the execution of government social programs, been compensated with the inflow of «petrodollars». In 2015 the situation qualitatively changed, forcing to reconsider the structure of both revenue and expenditure sides of the federal budget. These changes were reflected in submitted in late November by the RF Government budget project for 2016 and caused discussion on qualitative issues of the project. Among them: to what extent the project helps to turn the national economy to the direction, opposite to the raw materials’ extraction model of development? Does it ensure import substitution? How does the RF Government take into account the situation in the subjects of the Russian Federation, etc.? Below are presented the results of the discussion of these issues during the meeting, held at Discussion club of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics on the 5^th of November, 2015.

The main direction of constitutional and legal aspect of regional social policy is the social protection of citizens, and its provision by the subjects of the Russian Federation, taking into account the division of powers between the Federal center and regions. The delimitation of competencies between the Russian Federation and its subjects within the implementation of the constitutional rights of citizens for social security requires the preservation of a uniform approach to the cont ent a nd r e a l i zation of the g i ven r ig ht th roug hout t he t er r itor y of t he R u s sia n Federation, the harmonization of regional and federal social policy. The author comes to the conclusion about the necessity to establish federal standards, defining the basic minimums of the regional component in the realization of the citizens’ right for social security as the basic element of social policy.

The most important direction of realization of the state rights’ protection function is the protection of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen via the means of constitutional justice at the regional level. Within the process of formation and activity of constitutional (charter) courts of s ubje ct s of the Ru s sian Feder a tion cer t a i n d i f f icu lties occu r, as s ociated w ith the r elat i ve novelty of this institution, with the competition of these authorities with the courts of general jurisdiction and with the lack of funding. In jurisprudence there are discussions, relating to the need for a mandatory form of constitutional (charter) courts in all subjects of the federation, the need to adopt a separate law, regulating the activities of the constitutional (charter) control. The author proves that the absence of constitutional (charter) courts of subjects of the Russian Federation is not itself a violation of human rights and citizens’ access to justice, but the creation of such courts can greatly increase the level of protection of these rights and freedoms of man and citizen, for which there are necessary legislative preconditions.

This article analyzes the role of international organizations in coordination of joint efforts of different countries in ensuring the global food security. The paper offers the hierarchy of levels of food security with the description of these levels and contains the system of indicators, adopted by the FAO and aimed to assess the state of national food security. The author examines the state of the national system of evaluation of the level of food security, as well as production trends’ changes for major categories of foodstuffs.