Budgetary Systems of the Eastern Russian Regions during the Pandemic Crisis 2020-2021: Territorial Projection

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the dynamics of the state and structure of budget revenues and expenses of the Eastern Russian regions during the pandemic period of 2019-2021. Budget analysis was carried out using statistical and empirical research methods based on Federal Treasury data on the execution of the consolidated budgets of the regions of the Russian Federation and the budgets of territorial state extra-budgetary funds. By the end of 2021, the structure of the revenue side of budgets in most regions had practically recovered to its pre-Covid state. Personal income tax remained one of the most stable sources of income in the eastern regions: even in the first year of the pandemic, almost all regions showed a positive trend in its revenues. It is expected that the contribution of such a source as Taxes, fees and regular payments for the use of natural resources will be significant. The losses of the budgets' own revenues in 2020 were compensated for by most regions through intergovernmental fiscal transfers. In 2021, there was a recovery and even an increase in own income relative to 2019, mainly due to tax revenues. However, the positive dynamics of the eastern regions’ own incomes did not reduce their dependence on federal assistance, the scale and directions of growth of which vary greatly by type and region: in some regions its volumes increased, in others they sharply decreased. In the structure of gratuitous assistance, the share of subsidies has decreased and the share of subsidies and other intergovernmental fiscal transfers has increased significantly. The volume of budget expenditures during the pandemic period increased in almost all regions. The dynamics in the functional budget expenditures structure in the regions are very different: significant changes occurred in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Republic of Buryatia, the Trans-Baikal Territory and the Amur Region. The budget systems of the Eastern Russian regions have demonstrated their viability and stability, which allowed them to withstand the shocks of the pandemic, resist external and internal threats, and increase the filling of budgets with their own sources and, in general, with the help of interbudgetary transfers, fulfill obligations in accordance with their powers.