Социально-экономическое развитие Калининградской области в новых условиях: локальная специфика

Abstract

In recent years, social and economic development has been taking place in Russian regions amidst efforts to counter the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the West. This article aims to analyse the general and specific features in the development of the Kaliningrad semi-exclave between 2017 and 2022 while considering the territory’s spatial heterogeneity. By employing a multi-scale approach and utilising data from Rosstat and Kaliningradstat, an evaluation is carried out of the economic and social dynamics of the region’s municipalities and the region as a whole, compared to the country’s similar territories. It is concluded that the region’s high economic openness and reliance on imports and transit in various industries had a distinctly negative effect on its development. In 2020, the major aggravating factor was the substantial proportion of ‘simple’ services in the structure of the economy, while in 2022, the ban on the imports of certain types of products into developed countries, particularly those of the metal industry, exacerbated the situation. Local gradients were predominately accounted for by the level of cross-border interactions and the specialisation of municipal economies. In different years, districts at risk included coastal ones catering for the demand from tourists and migrants and those specialising in the metal industry, meat and fish processing and furniture production. In general, the region’s social dynamics show a less dramatic decline than the economic dynamics, primarily due to the distribution of social payments to the population. While intended to support the population in the most economically affected areas, these measures did not yield a positive impact on the income convergence among the region’s municipalities.