Home – Home – Jornals – Advanced Search

The article sets forth the results of a study on the current state of agriculture of the Tyva Republic (Tuva) with respect to investment and innovation. First, we outline problems hindering the further development of agriculture in Tuva and analyze how primary branches of agricultural production faired in 2015-2020 inside a multi-structured economy. The roles that farms of various categories play in agricultural production are defined next. We also show the volumes and dynamics of investment attracted to agriculture over the considered period and emphasize how important the state is in investment support for agriculture. The paper examines problems of agricultural development along with the contribution of agricultural science to advancing innovation and draws a conclusion about the need for innovative development of agriculture in the region.

Despite Sino-Russian cooperation developing fast universally in the 21^st century, the level of trade and economic cooperation does not correspond with that of the other spheres. The initial goal was to reach trade turnover at 100 billion USD by 2015 and 200 billion USD by 2020. Till now, both sides have failed to achieve this for the following trends prevail in Russia: simple trade, low level of investment and inter-banking relations, as well as poor international trade-related infrastructure. The article describes the current situation in Sino-Russian trade and economic cooperation and proposes improvement measures.

This paper examines the development of Russia’s urban system from 1991 to 2020 and explores the impact of external and internal factors on urban growth. Our methods of analysis include descriptive statistics and regression equations for the dependence of city size and urban growth rates on internal and external development resources. The analysis shows no rapid increase in urban population or skyrocketing growth of the largest cities in Russia. The paper proposes and tests the hypothesis that, due to how controversial the impact of agglomeration factors on urban growth is, weak changes in the urban system are consistent with the presence of and are resulting from market mechanisms. The indicator of market potential, which acts as an integral characteristic of the capacity and availability of external markets, is used as a measure of market size and the possibility of agglomeration effects. We distinguish three types of external markets: 1) cities within the home region; 2) rural settlements in the home region; and 3) other constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Econometric evaluations have shown different components of market potential to contribute oppositely. Competitive effects dominated in interaction with other areas, and interregional market potential was a negative factor for the city size and growth. The market potential of the home region was only used effectively in rural areas. Connections with markets of cities within the region were less significant, which further reduced the sources of development. In addition to external markets, the level of specialization, availability of housing, and social infrastructure were all significant factors for the city growth. The obtained results argue for the government support of initiatives and institutions of interregional and intermunicipal cooperation, economic and technological partnerships between cities and regions, projects of wide scope across several territories, as well as institutions and organizational mechanisms to manage them.

The article studies contemporary problems of managing regional socio-economic development amidst digital economy and proposes new methodological approaches to governance at regional and municipal levels, including promoting the idea of a strategic approach to governance, designing elements of a new governance mechanism based on digital technologies, implementing effective methods of state regulation of the regional economy, forming a regional information infrastructure, and providing integrated solutions to social and economic issues. We show that regional and municipal levels of governance are ill-prepared when it comes to switching to new forms of digital economy and information society growth. Based on generalized experience of how regional and municipal authorities operate, assessment of governance efficiency, and strategic planning procedures, we suggest ways of improving regional and municipal governance to increase its efficiency, strengthen the innovative orientation of governance via digital technologies and enhance the cooperation between state and market institutions in regions.

The large inland territory, including Russian Siberia and Mongolia, as discussed in this article, has similarities in physical-geographical, and socio-demographic parameters, as well as in the attitude to them as the “resource colonies”. The Siberian and Mongolian components significantly differ politically thus affecting the institutional and managerial characteristics and the formation of territorial nature conservation, which is implemented in the activities of specially protected natural areas. The article provides an analysis of the existing systems of protected areas in Siberia and Mongolia, and of their structure and legislative basis. The similarities and differences of the laws of Russia and Mongolia are consistently considered: on land, on specially protected natural areas, and on territories of traditional nature management. The analysis of the legislation revealed a difference between similar categories of protected areas, management features as well as some aspects of law enforcement. Based on statistical information as of the beginning of 2021, summary tables of protected areas by category and by administrative units have been compiled. On the basis of databases collected by the authors and previously published thematic atlases, maps of protected areas have been compiled, demonstrating their distribution in Mongolia and Siberia. In spite of the differences identified, a converging aspect is shown: the presence and planning of interstate transboundary protected natural areas. It is concluded that the existing system of Mongolian protected areas is more effective. It is characterized by a greater representativeness of landscape diversity, more evenly distributed across administrative units of the country, developed in terms of areal indicators, more homogeneous in terms of representation of various categories of protected areas, and more peculiar due to the presence of transboundary protected areas between aimags. The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is a positive exception in the Russian part of the system.

The consequences of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) for tourism and the state’s attention to the revival of this segment of the economy are briefly outlined. It is shown that the current crisis is the strongest in the entire history of the industry, while crises open up additional opportunities in its functioning, and innovative solutions are used to meet the requirements of consumers. The main trends of post-crisis measures in our country are highlighted. In Russia, the strategic basis for improving the recreation sector is the strengthening of domestic tourism; in this regard, regional strategies for its development are of particular importance. This direction is declared in the industry program and in the Development Program of the Far East into 2035, supported by measures and targets for the creation of its own tourism cluster in each Far Eastern region. It is shown that for the first time in the socio-economic program the Tourism subprogram is allocated for the region. The prerequisites for its implementation are outlined, and the centers of tourist activity revitalization are presented. Taking into consideration the geographical location and size of the region, the formation of cluster policy emphasizes the importance of developing interregional relations, which are currently poorly represented. Even the conditions of the territories of advanced development, which are distinguished by a special mode of doing business, are not used in their establishment. The model of the federal tourist interregional scheme of territorial and spatial planning, with a focus on the creation of a comprehensive tourist development plan, is proposed. The prerequisites, structure, content and conditions of its formation are pointed out. The implementation of the tasks outlined in the scheme is focused on combining the common efforts of all market players in order to form a tourist region as an integral competitive unit.

This article presents the results of a study conducted in the coastal zone of Lake Onega. The research is devoted to studying the influence of coastal (abrasion in particular) processes and inflowing rivers on the quality of surface waters of the lake. In October 2019, 47 samples of water (from the surface and bottom horizons), 26 samples of bottom sediments and 16 samples of shore-forming sediments with further determination of metal concentrations were taken on the eastern coasts of the lake in the area of the abrasive (Andomа Mountain key area) and delta (Shal’skoe Onego key area) coasts. The content of the following metals was studied: iron (total), manganese, aluminum, zinc, copper, nickel, chromium, lead, cobalt and cadmium. The emphasis in this study is placed on the determination of the dissolved form of metals in water and the mobile form in coastal and bottom sediments. The results showed that the concentrations of metals in the natural environment of the lake as a whole reflect the hydrochemical picture characteristic of this territory with an excess of the current standards of the quality of water up to 20 times for Mn, Fe, Cu, Pb and Al. The collected array of geochemical data made it possible to conduct a correlation analysis of the influence of coastal processes on the quality of coastal waters of Lake Onega in terms of metal content. The results showed the presence of different types of relationships between the content of metals in bottom sediments and water (from “very weak” to “strong”), which are statistically insignificant. In the area of the Andoma Mountain, the key area, there is a «strong» (close) relationship between the Al, Cu and Pb contents in bottom sediments and in water.

Results of quantitative determination of dissolved forms of 55 elements by mass-spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma (ICP-MS) in the water of small rivers, lakes and in the melt waters of glaciers and snowfields of the Kuragan basin are presented. The influence of climatic and hydrological conditions, the lithological composition of the rocks composing the Kuragan basin predetermine the formation of ultra-fresh, neutral to slightly alkaline calcium waters. In rivers and lakes, a mineralization is 28-7 mg/L, pH is 8.5-6.8; in melt waters of snow and firn, they are 14-2 mg/L and pH is 8.4-6.5, respectively. The total content of dissolved forms of elements does not exceed 11 mg/L in rivers and lakes and 35 mg/L in melt water of snow and firn. P, K, Ti and Ag accumulate in snowfields, while the river water is characterized by a high content of Si, Mo and Te. In some water bodies, the excess of the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) of pollutants has been established. In rivers and lakes, the concentrations of Al, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo and Pb are higher than the MPC in the water of fishery reservoirs, and the content of Al, Fe, Ni and Pb is higher than the MPC in drinking water. In the melt waters of snowfields, the MPCs in fishery reservoirs are exceeded for Al, P, K, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn, and the MPC in drinking water - for Al, K, Mn, Sb and Pb. A statistically significant correlation between all elements in the composition of the water of rivers, lakes (except for W), and melt water from snowfields indicates their input from a single natural source, mainly as a result of leaching from rocks and soils with a slight effect of atmospheric precipitation. High concentrations of toxic elements in water bodies are due to the runoff of substances from the catchment area and to the accumulation of weathering products in snowfields and are not associated with anthropogenic pollution.

Data of experimental studies on the influence of fires on the development of erosion processes in the mountain forests of Cisbaikalia are considered. The quantitative indicators of liquid and solid surface runoff formed on burns, depending on the steepness of the slopes and on the intensity and duration of the fires, are given. It is shown that the violation of the soil-protective plant and organogenic layer of soils on mountain slopes contributes to an intense development of sheet wash of fine-grained earth, which leads to a change in the direction and rate of soil formation under other conditions of the development of geochemical and biogeochemical processes. The water-physical and physico-chemical properties of soils are significantly transformed on burns, leading to a deterioration of their forest-growing properties. The morphological characteristics of pyrogenically transformed soils on the sites affected by fire of different intensity 5 to 8 years ago are given. In mountain conditions, during ground fires of high intensity, the processes of drift and redeposition of fine-grained earth on the slopes are observed, leading either to the formation of simple primitive profiles with thin horizons or to the formation of complex polycyclic profiles, often with buried (relict) horizons. Mathematical models are proposed, which describe the formation of liquid and solid surface runoff on the burns, depending on the main factors that determine this process. Pyrogenic destruction of forest ecosystems inevitably leads to the degradation of mountain soils, which take many decades to restore after ground fires.

The prerequisites for sustainable development of urbanized territories are considered, which are determined by the atmospheric air quality governed by a combination of microclimatic differences and anthropogenic impact. The city of Ulan-Ude, located in the conditions of a valley-basin relief, was studied. To clarify the features in the microclimate of the city, calculations of the amounts of direct radiation on the slopes of the surrounding ridges were performed. Spatial differences in the formation of the ecological and climatic state of the air environment on the upper surfaces, bottoms of the valleys of the Uda and Selenga rivers, and slopes with many valleys of different orientations and planate surfaces are revealed. It is found that the ecosystem functions of the atmosphere of valley-basin territories, limited by the natural and climatic ability to self-purification, impose increased requirements on the volumes of anthropogenic load. It is shown that the decrease in emissions from stationary sources from 2010 to 2018 contributes to the positive dynamics of specific ecological and economic indicators (kg/1000 rubles). Furthermore, specific total emissions (kg/person) are growing, and the atmospheric pollution index remains high and very high due to an increase in emissions from mobile sources and an increase in the concentration of aggressive impurities. To improve the living conditions of the population and sustainable development of Ulan-Ude, it is important to reduce emissions from stationary and mobile sources, which implies improving the quality of fuel and the technical condition of vehicles and road infrastructure, and it is also advisable to transfer existing green zones to protected ones.