Placer Gold Mining in the Zabaikalskii Krai and Its Role in the Development of Municipal Districts

Abstract

The article deals with studying the impact of placer gold mining on socio-economic processes in the east of Russia on the example of the Zabaikalskii Krai. The quantitative assessment of the development of the Zabaikalskii Krai found that there are short-term benefits from the placer gold mining during the mining season in the municipalities of excavating sites. However, there is no reason to say that it has a positive impact on socio-economic and demographic processes over the medium term. The author arrived at the conclusion, that the role of placer gold mining in improving the quality of life of the local population and demographic stabilization in the transboundary regions is great and revealed the need to carry out a number of institutional changes. They are: a radical redistribution of income within the budget system in this segment of subsurface management; an increase in payment rates within the limits of maximum permissible, temporarily agreed and excess discharges to aquatic biological resources for damage, since the existing payment system has almost completely lost its regulatory functions and is now frankly imitative; a change in the procedures for commercial access to resources so that the local community can really participate and play a significant role in decision-making.