Agro-industrial Regions Research Articles

Пространственные и структурные закономерности в распределении научно-технологической, инновационной и производственной деятельности в России

A modern innovative economy relies on the continual integration of knowledge and tech­nologies into production, monitoring, and management processes. Therefore, territorial proximity and sectoral complementarity of the activities of scientific, technological and industrial organisations are crucial factors in fostering innovation. This article aims to assess the relationship between a region’s economic and scientific specialisation and the level of its innovative development. The object of the study is the industrial and research profile of Russian regions’ economies with a focus on the strength of connections between them. We identified and measured Russian regions’ industry-specific research, technolog­ical and economic specialisations. Additionally, we described the spatial and structural patterns of interregional distribution and concentration of research, technological and in­novative activities. Methodologically, we compared data on the product output by industry, using the OKVED classification subgroups and information on the costs and implemen­tation of R&D. To gather the latter data, we employed our methodology, which involved juxtaposing GRNTI and OKVED codes. Overall, we analysed data from 17.3 thousand re­search, development and technological projects conducted between 2017 and 2021 across 18 fields. Specialisation coefficients for both the supply and demand of R&D outcomes and production were computed for each region. The econometric analysis made it possible to distinguish four clusters of regions based on their research and industrial specialisation: agro-industrial regions, mechanical engineering regions, precision engineering regions and diversified regions. The study demonstrated a correlation between a region’s innova­tive product output and the structure of its innovative economy.

Prospects for the development of agribusiness in conditions of economic instability

In modern conditions of geopolitical tension, agribusiness is an important sector that plays an integral role in ensuring food security and sustainable development of the country. Nevertheless, economic instability creates serious challenges for the development of the country’s agroindustrial complex as a whole. We see financial instability of world markets, political conflicts, and other macroenvironmental factors as the causes of instability. The purpose of the article is to study the key trends in the development of agribusiness in conditions of uncertainty using the example of the Rostov region. The Rostov region is one of the largest agro-industrial regions of Russia, and therefore the study of factors influencing the agribusiness of this geographical area is of interest. The restrictions imposed on the country have a direct impact on trade, financing, availability of technology, and cooperation with foreign partners. The result of the study was, firstly, the identified problems of agribusiness that impede the industry’s full growth, and, secondly, the identified prospects for sustainable development and growth of the industry in a rapidly changing environment.

Merging Renewable Carbon-Based Materials and Emerging Separation Concepts to Attain Relevant Purification Applications in a Circular Economy

The globe demands a more efficient approach to provide materials and products for the economic and living needs of a modern society. Separation processes have an important role in order to achieve the recoveries and purities required in terms of quality specifications. There are a variety of porous materials taking the role of separation agents which work effectively in many technological industrial applications based on adsorption and membrane processes. The separation agents derived from renewable materials represent a desirable alternative to face the sustainability challenges in industrial settings. In this sense, the biomass residues which are abundant in agroindustrial regions represent an opportunity to tackle the needs for sustainable separation processes. Innovation plays a key role in order to combine renewable materials and emerging separation concepts to find compelling solutions for the needs of water and gas treatment purifications. These solutions are achieved more effectively through the joint research and innovation effort between materials and process aspects. This commentary remarks the fruitful opportunity existing for separation technology to take advantage of biomass residues to be converted into tailor-made separation agents. It focuses on novel separation applications where the biocarbon electroactive properties play a significant role. These technological approaches for biocarbon are beyond its most common use as an activated carbon adsorbent. Recent research contributions providing original solutions on this aspect are discussed here mainly for gas separation of CO2 and volatile organic compounds, freshwater recovery, and electrolyte separation among others. Innovative separation solutions including tailor-made biocarbons are expected to grow at a fast pace in the coming years.

Agroindastrial complex of the Chuvash Republic: intra-regional and All-Russian significance

This paper reveals the current state of various areas of the agro-industrial complex of the Russian region of the Chuvash Republic. Particular attention was paid to comparing a number of parameters characterizing the agro-industrial production of the republic with the corresponding parameters of other areas of the economy of the region, the role of the agro-industrial complex of Chuvashia in the all-Russian agro-industrial production. In the Chuvash Republic, the importance of the agro-industrial complex for the regional economy is often emphasized. Moreover, in the typology of Russian regions in terms of the level and type of economic development, the Chuvash Republic is quite often referred to the category of agro-industrial regions. The paper describes the absence of exceptional natural and climatic advantages for the development of the agro-industrial complex of the region, the relative weakness of the agricultural and agro-industrial sectors of the republic against the background of a number of other regions of Russia. The share of the industry in the structure of GRP and employment in the region is analyzed, while its importance is highlighted against the background of manufacturing industries and the service sector. It also stands out that the modern agro-industrial complex of the Chuvash Republic is of great importance for the socio-economic development of the region and the prospects for further development. However, it is not possible to classify Chuvashia as an agrarian and even agro-industrial region. The most important in the republic is not the agro-industrial complex, but the social infrastructure, industrial infrastructure and industry.

Оценка влияния инструментов экологической политики Российской Федерации на региональные инвестиции в охрану окружающей среды

The implementation of the sustainable development concept determines economic growth while reducing the negative impact on the environment. To achieve this, investments in environmental protection are required, which, first of all, should be stimulated by the national environmental policy. The purpose of the article is to assess the impact of environmental policy instruments (charges for emission limits, charges for exceeding emission limits, fines, costs for eco-control, interbudgetary transfers, mandatory environmental insurance, regional tax incentives) on the development of regional investments in environmental protection in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation based on Federal State Statistics Service data. The research methods are panel regressions with fixed and random effects, the typology of regions by industry specialization based on the values of the localization coefficients, various types of analysis (structural, groupings). Our findings demonstrate that the Russian environmental policy pursued in Russia contributed to a slight increase in current environmental expenditures in the regions, primarily in the regions of agricultural specialization, but did not stimulate an increase in environmental investments in fixed assets. As a result, environmental quality indicators did not improve in the majority of Russian regions. Eco-control costs (in industrial regions), and charges for emission limits (in industrial and agro-industrial regions) have the greatest incentive to increase environmental costs. Fines, interbudgetary transfers, mandatory environmental insurance, regional tax incentives do not have a significant impact on environmental investment in fixed assets in Russian regions. To improve the efficiency of the state environmental policy the authors propose to increase the charge for exceeding emission limits and fines for environmental law violation, to revise the target nature of interbudgetary transfers in terms of stimulating environmental investments in fixed assets, and to implement pilot projects to introduce environmental policy instruments that comply with best international practices.

Digitalization of Agricultural Industry – the Vector of Strategic Development of Agro-industrial Regions in Russia

Today the strategic vector of agricultural development is connected with the introduction of digital technologies. Digitalization leads not only to transformation of production processes in the industry but as well has much wider environmental, social and institutional context. This paper is aimed at finding out what digital transformations have the most strategic significance for social and economic development of agro-industrial regions of the south of Russia, as well as at revealing the factors fostering or constraining these processes. Digital transformation in the south Russian regions has just affected the first level – application of new information technologies for raising economic performance and simultaneous alleviating environmental problems. The perspectives of digitalization of the agriculture are connected with developing open collaborative systems with different types of business collaborations. The authors highlight the main problems of realizing digital transformations in the agriculture of the south regions solving of which can be provided by means of authorities’ institutional decisions within regional strategies of digitalization. This research gives an idea of the potential of agricultural digitalization and its results can be used for forming theoretical and methodological grounds for strategic development of agriculture in agro-industrial regions in modern circumstances.

Environmental Consequences of the Transformation of the Sectoral Structure of the Economy of Russian Regions and Cities in the Post-Soviet Period

—The transformation of the environmental situation in the course of post-Soviet changes in Russia’s economic is considered from the standpoint of structural features and dynamics of industrial production, GRP, and energy output. A multiscale (country–regions–cities) comprehensive assessment of the transformation of the environmental situation due to changes in the territorial and sectoral structure of the economy of Russia, its regions, and cities was carried out. Factors and spatiotemporal patterns in the dynamics and structural characteristics of the environmental situation during periods of crises and economic growth are revealed. The comprehensive index of anthropogenic impact is used to assess the dynamics and variability of the environmental situation in Russian regions and cities: a general decrease in most environmental indicators identified, as well as a gradual leveling of regional shares and increased localization of the impact in individual cities versus a general slowdown in economic growth. Gradual weakening of the role of industrial specialization in the environmental situation and simplification of the structure of types of impact within regions are shown. The highest level of discrepancy between economic development trends and the integral load indicator is typical of regions with the highest level of impact; the highest degree of dependence is typical of agrarian or agroindustrial regions, as well as for regions where one of the key sources of pollution is fuel energy production with coal predominant in the fuel balance structure. In general, the trends of changes in the environmental situation in regions are smoother than in cities. The more diversified the region’s economy, the smaller the range of fluctuations of the comprehensive index of anthropogenic impact; the more developed a large-city settlement pattern, the more complex and diverse the factors of the regional environmental situation.

Geobranding as a technology for sustainable development of an agricultural region

The article is devoted to the theoretical issues of geo-branding as a technology for the development of an agro-industrial region, the origin and development of research on branding and marketing of territories is considered, the content of the concepts of “place branding” and “place marketing” and the relationship between them are analyzed. The work examines the main components of geo-branding: development, implementation of a strategy for the development and promotion of an agro-industrial region, attraction of investments and the most efficient use of the region’s resources. Geo-branding is viewed as a technology for implementing the strategic goals of sustainable development of an agro-industrial region, which includes an analysis of the specifics of the region in the past, present and future based on the socio-cultural resources and potential of the region. The article proposes a geo-branding model that includes archetypal and narrative components that are reflected in the public consciousness of representatives of different target audiences. Particular attention is paid to the study of the specifics of the use of special events and digital communications by geo-branding entities as tools for promoting the potential of agro-industrial regions in the domestic and foreign markets.

Territorial public self-government in the framework of the agro-industrial region key indicators

The paper substantiates the need to take into account and monitor indicators of territorial public self-government, as a new promising tool for managing the spatial development of agro-industrial territories, by identifying the relationship with key indicators of the development of agro-industrial regions based on the use of correlation and regression analysis methods and building a correlation-regression model using statistical data of subjects of Russian Federation. The results of the correlation analysis revealed the absence of correlation dependences between the key indicators of the development of the agro-industrial region and the amount of TPSG, showing a tendency for TPSG growth, due to the increase in the average annual population of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The results of the regression analysis confirmed the influence of certain key indicators on the number of TPSGs, in particular, a positive assessment of the regression was established for the indicator of the labor force number in the agricultural sectors of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. A conclusion is made about the necessity and expediency of further detailed and substantive study of TPSG indicators in terms of quantitative measurement as informatively significant for inclusion in the system of indicators for regular monitoring of agro-industrial regions the state of development.

THE STUDY OF THE TERRITORIAL AND SECTORAL STRUCTURE OF THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERREGIONAL INTEGRATION: TO THE FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM

The authors, taking into account the existing developments, reveal the scientific relevance of the topic, which consists in verifying the existing concepts of regional growth driving forces in relation to regions with an industrial or industrial-agrarian economy.
 The authors describe the practical relevance of the study, which, according to the authors, consists in identifying the reasons inherent in the agro-industrial regions as a whole for their lag in socio-economic development.
 For the first time, the question of studying the territorial and industrial structure and, in particular, one of its key elements-agro — industrial regions in the context of the formation and development of integration and cooperation processes is raised.
 The article considers the most important aspect of the problem — the impact of integration on the development of agro-industrial regions, the possibility of the latter to enter the integration union on an equal partnership basis. The authors explain their position on this issue in a reasoned manner.
 The article proposes a classification of agro-industrial regions of Russia by the size of the integration potential. The classification is based on two criteria: the level of socio-economic development and the degree of the region periphery.
 At the end of the article, the main priority directions and tasks of the long-term development of the topic under consideration are listed.

Regional differences in the implementation of innovative projects in the enterprises of the agrarian sector

Ensuring the food security of the world, as well as individual countries and regions, requires a significant increase in agricultural productivity. This cannot be achieved without the introduction of innovations, which, in turn, require appropriate investment. The introduction of innovations should be considered primarily as the implementation of innovative projects in agricultural enterprises and regional and national projects – at the meso and macro levels. The purpose of the article is to identify and analyze regional differences in the implementation of innovative projects by agricultural enterprises of Ukraine. The current state and problems of implementation of the most important investment-and-innovation projects in the enterprises of the agricultural sector of the regions of Ukraine are determined and analyzed; regional differences in the distribution of the number of investment-and-innovation projects are revealed. The most common areas of implementation of these investment-and-innovation projects are identified, leaders in attracting investment are specified among the regions that have implemented projects in the agro-industrial complex, including Vinnytsia, Odessa, Kherson, Cherkasy, and Sumy regions. The analysis of the areas of implementation shows that most of the projects for 2016–2019 were implemented in livestock, the second position was occupied by projects related to processing, storage of grain and oilseeds, and the third place – by projects in pig breeding. The rating of regions of Ukraine by the average cost of investment and innovation project in the agricultural sector is built. The growth in the number of projects and the volume of investments indicates an improvement in investment attractiveness and positive expectations of agricultural enterprises and hence an increase in investment opportunities for the implementation of innovative projects.

Patriotic education as a basis for strengthening Russian national civic identity: experience of the Republic of Mordovia

Introduction. In modern Russia, patriotism is broadcast by the authorities as the only possible ideology of a democratic state, its national idea, which gives rise to many disputes and discussions within connotational boundaries: “love for the homeland lies outside states and nations – this is an initial, natural, genetic feeling” vs “the idea of sovereign patriotism can and should be the basis of the national idea of Russia”. The purpose of this publication is to consider the conceptual base and the activity of the formation of patriotic consciousness in the period 2012–2020 on the example of a separate subject of the Russian Federation – the Republic of Mordovia. Materials and Methods. The methodology was based on a retrospective analysis, an axiological paradigm, and a systematic approach. Case study was used among the applied methods. The Republic of Mordovia acted as a case, as it is a typical constituent entity of the Russian Federation related to agro-industrial regions, on the other hand as a national republic in which citizens of 119 nationalities live, while the national composition is dominated by Mordovians (Moksha, Erzya), Russians, Tatars. Results and Discussion. In the Republic of Mordovia, as well as in the Russian Federation as a whole, civic and patriotic education and the formation of patriotic consciousness of citizens is implemented through a program-targeted approach. This is expressed in a number of state programs, including “Development of Education in the Republic of Mordovia”, “Development of Culture and Tourism in Russia”, “Counteracting Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking”, “Harmonization of Interethnic and Interfaith Relations in the Republic of Mordovia”, etc., and there is a continuity in their adoption and prolongation. Effective vertical and horizontal interagency links have been created for their implementation. In recent years, individual civil society institutions, in particular, socially oriented non-profit organizations, have been actively involved in civic and patriotic education. The work also examines the activity component in the context of the analysis of individual events, graded by the authors for civic and patriotic, social and patriotic, heroic and patriotic and military and patriotic vectors. The problematic area remains the co-financing of state-funded programs in terms of the region’s obligations due to the accumulated problems in the budgetary sphere and, as a result, the highest debt burden of all the subjects of the Russian Federation. Conclusion. In nowadays Russia, the elements of civic-patriotic education are consistently implemented in the state educational, cultural, national, and youth policy. In the Republic of Mordovia, the implementation of patriotic themes is assessed as diversive and it has various formats. It is carried out according to civic and patriotic, socio-patriotic, heroic-patriotic, military-patriotic vectors.

AGRO-INDUSTRIAL REGIONS: DYNAMICS OF INCOME, INEQUALITY AND POVERTY

The results of the analysis of long-term dynamics of income, inequality and poverty in Russian agro-industrial regions are presented. The methodological background of the study is described. The specificity of changes in the considered indicators of development of agro-industrial regions against the background of Russia is revealed at different stages of economic development in the 1990s, 2000s and in the current decade. The agro-industrial regions consistently have lower incomes compared to Russia, higher levels of poverty and less significant inequalities. The impact of economic crises on the decline in the purchasing power of incomes and on the increase in poverty of residents in such regions was more noticeable than in Russia as a whole. At the same time, over more than 20 years, poverty has significantly decreased, purchasing power increased, and the regions’ lagging behind in terms of population income and overtaking in terms of poverty has decreased. Conclusions are drawn about the importance of state policy as a driver of positive changes in the dynamics of the population income and poverty in the agro-industrial regions.
 It is shown how interregional differentiation changed. The “leading” and “outsider” agro-industrial regions are identified at each stage of economic development. There are significant and growing differences between agroindustrial regions in terms of income, inequality and poverty. The influence of the center-periphery factor on the position of regions is revealed. The position of the peripheral region with the least prosperous situation remains stable. The stability of the positions of the peripheral region with the least favorable situation remains. The group of prosperous regions (despite the change in leadership positions) with a more advantageous geographical position is also relatively stable.

Economic Policy of Agro-Industrial Regions of the South of Russia in the Conditions of COVID-19

Significant macroeconomic and structural consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to limited business activity in Russian regions. As a result, regional economies have experienced a crisis. In order to smooth the negative consequences of the pandemic, federal entities of the Russian Federation were given the right to conduct their own economic policy and determine independently the measures of business support. The purpose of this article is to study the content of the economic policy of agro-industrial regions of the South of Russia and to identify its priorities in the context of the spread of COVID-19. The research methodology is based on the theory of shocks. The authors hypothesis is that under the spread of COVID-19, the sustainability of regional economy is determined by a balance between aggregate demand and aggregate supply. The object of the study is agro-industrial regions of the South of Russia: Rostov, Volgograd regions and Krasnodar krai. As a result of the analysis, the characteristic of the sectoral structure of regions has been given, and the impact of quarantine measures on the main indicators of regional development has been analyzed. The measures taken by regional authorities to support business have been described. It is concluded that the support measures which are being implemented are mainly focused on the total supply by means of the reduction of administrative and financial burden on business. It is noted that for the support of regional economy, it is also necessary to support aggregate demand through the implementation of cooperative fiscal, money-and-credit and monetary measures.

METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF TYPIFICATION OF RUSSIAN REGIONS BASED ON THE ANALYSIS OF THE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE ECONOMY OF THE AGRO-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

The article provides a literary review, systematizes approaches to the allocation of types of agricultural structure of Russian regions, and develops a method for allocating types of Russian regions according to the degree of development of agriculture, the food industry, and the branches of the economy that serve agriculture. This method takes into account the ratio of agribusiness industries, which we have grouped into three areas: I sphere (industries that produce products consumed by the II and III spheres of agriculture; 2 types of economic activity), II sphere (agriculture; 6 types of economic activity), III sphere (industries that process agricultural products or provide various services to them; 3 types of economic activity). Taking into account the coefficient of localization of agricultural production, three groups of regions were identified: agro-industrial, industrial and agricultural, as well as regions for which the agro-industrial complex is not a branch of their specialization. On the example of Russian regions, the developed methodology was tested: the structure of regions was dominated by agroindustrial regions (52.4% of the studied population), 20 and 19 regions were assigned to industrial-agricultural and other territories, respectively. The results obtained are important for authorities at all levels in their formation of agricultural policy, the concept of demographic development, and structural changes in the economy.

DEVELOPMENT OF FOOD TOURISM PERSPECTIVES IN UKRAINE

Topicality. The development of domestic tourism is relevant today around the world, and Ukraine is no exception. One of the domestic tourism types for the country can be food tourism, which is still unequally developed within tourist destinations. Aim and tasks � to assess the condition of food tourism development in Ukraine and to outline the prospects for its further development on the basis of the European experience. Research results. A promising area of tourist services market development is food tourism - a specialized type of tourism, focused on learning about the history, technology and culture of national dishes and products consumption, as well as training and professional development in cooking. Trends in the modern tourism market show a growing interest among consumers in these types of travel. According to the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization), most tourists mark the food aspect as the main reason for visiting a country, and argue that the gastronomic features of the country are one of the three main reasons in determining the place of tourist travel. Wine tours in Zakarpattia, Odessa, Kherson and Mykolayiv regions are gaining the most popularity in Ukraine among the actively demanded directions of tourist and gastronomic activity. Deep cultural traditions, in particular in food, for which Ukraine is famous, create preconditions for the formation of numerous interesting gastronomic tours for both domestic and foreign tourists. Conclusion. Current trends in the development of food tourism in Ukraine indicate its significant potential and opportunities for professional development, because now this area of tourism is engaged in a limited number of tourism companies; Most trips are organized to Lviv, Zakarpattia and Poltava regions, where there are strong national traditions, the formation of their own gastronomic brands and geographical indications, a strong authentic culture and specific culinary preferences. The combinatorial capabilities of gastronomic tourism, which are actively used in European practice, open its perspectives in the domestic tourism sector, in particular, increasing employment of local people and strengthening the competitiveness of agro-industrial, recreational and agricultural regions and multinational areas of our country.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE KEY FACTORS INFLUENCE ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR OF THE POPULATION TO BIO PRODUCTS IN REGIONAL MARKETS

The article is devoted to the study of population consumer behavior to “bio” products on the example of two CIS countries: Kazakhstan and Russia, compared to foreign experience in the development of organic agriculture, on the example of Bulgaria.
 It is expected that demand for organic products will grow steadily, both in domestic and international markets, which will further stimulate the development of organic agriculture in the world. Factors affecting consumer demand become important both for local markets and at the international level.
 The study is based on a survey of residents of three representative agro-industrial regions: East Kazakhstan region (Kazakhstan), Altay territory (Russia), Varna region (Bulgaria). The aim of the study is to identify factors that influence the promotion of “bio” products in these regions.
 It is assumed that the development of organic agriculture can stimulate the development of regional economies, especially in Russia and Kazakhstan.
 The analysis made it possible to identify the peculiarities of the formation of consumer demand for bio products in these countries, to determine the factors that cause it and to form a number of proposals for producers for the further development of organic agriculture.

DEMOGRAPHIC LIMITATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL REGIONS

The article discusses the features of the demographic development of agro-industrial regions in 1997-2018 against the background of Russia. Their intra-group differences were identified and measured, the relationship between the population and the economy, between demographic growth and socio-economic is described. The risks of population decline for sustainable development of agro-industrial regions are identified. Based on the analysis of demographic and socio-economic statistics, it is shown that depopulation processes in the agro-industrial regions are less intensive compared to the average Russian region, and in some of them population growth was observed. In terms of population, these regions are characterized by significant intra-group differentiation, which decreases over time. There is a positive statistically significant relationship between the demographic and socio­economic potential of the agro-industrial regions, and negative between the dynamics of the population and the dynamics of the gross regional product, as well as the number and real incomes. It is concluded that population reduction can lead to depopulation of large territories and loss of social control over them, a shortage of labor resources and limited economic growth, and a reduction in the resource base for the development of the social sphere and demographic reproduction.

Russia’s Agroindustrial Regions: Concept, Approaches to Identification, and Results

The article summarizes the first stage of a fairly large study to acquire new knowledge on the influence of traditional regional development factors (specialization of the economy and central–peripheral position of the region) on the development of territorial socioeconomic systems in modern conditions. A general idea is given of agroindustrial regions as a special type of territorial socioeconomic systems with their inherent economic specialization, character of settlement system, and quality and way of life, largely due to “inherited” developmental features. A scientifically based methodology for distinguishing Russian agroindustrial regions is proposed. The procedure for forming the feature space is described in detail, and the requirements for each indicator and their system as a whole are given. This methodology was tested on Russian regions. Two groups of closely related indicators were formed that reveal the orientation of Russian regions toward the development of industry and agriculture. A typology of regions in a two-dimensional space was plotted, the main axes of which are the degree of agrarian and industrial orientation of the region. The territorial and sectoral structure of the Russian economy is revealed, and the circle of agroindustrial regions is delineated. Our results are correlated with those of earlier similar studies.

Problems of periphery agro-industrial regions of the Volga Federal District

The article analyzes the approaches to the assessment of peripherality in the framework of the center-peripheral models of the economic space. Identification of the core, semi-periphery and periphery of the Volga Federal District was made on the basis of clusterization according to two criteria: gross regional product per capita and population density. A process of centro-periphery polarization takes place in the Volga Federal District. Economic activity is concentrated in the largest metropolitan areas, forming the core of the macro-region. Moderately developed regions with gross regional product per capita from 75 to 100 % of the average level of the Volga Federal District form semi-periphery. The periphery covers a continuous belt of seven agro-industrial regions, in which 30% of the macro-region’s population lives. The peculiarities of the Volga Federal District periphery were revealed: depopulation and aging of the population, general unemployment is at the level of 4-6 %, the level of innovation and investment is lower than the average level of the Volga Federal District and strongly differentiated by the regions, the quality of roads and the availability of the Internet are lower than the average level of the Volga Federal District. A process of further peripheralization is observed in all peripheral regions.