Regions will be helped to reduce the gap in budgetary security
After the inauguration ceremony on May 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on national development goals for the next six years and for the future until 2036. The full text of the document is published on the Kremlin website. Among the most notable goals are for Russia to become fourth in the world in terms of GDP and to reduce the gap in fiscal security between the 10 most and 10 least affluent regions of the country. MK found out from experts what needs to be done to achieve its goals.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance, in 2024 the level of security between the 10 most affluent and 10 least affluent subjects of Russia (taking into account the provision of financial support from the state treasury in the form of targeted interbudgetary transfers) reaches 3.25 times. The new presidential decree, which Vladimir Putin signed after the inauguration, is aimed at changing such a strong gap. After 12 years, the gap in budget provision between the 10 most and 10 least provided regions should not exceed twice the size. The head of state set this goal for the government. “Set the following targets and tasks… reducing by 2036 to no more than two times the gap in the levels of budgetary security… taking into account the provision of financial support from the federal budget,” says the presidential decree on national development goals, signed on 7 May. At the same time, this goal will contribute to the achievement of the others noted in the same document, among which a lot of attention was attracted by the task of overtaking Japan in terms of economic development and Russia reaching 4th place in the world in terms of GDP.
Among the “powers that be”, a discussion has already begun on how to achieve the set goals. Thus, Acting First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov has already stated that our country may well reach fourth place in the world by 2030 and overtake Japan if it grows by 2–2.5% annually over the next three to four years, and then can accelerate to 3%. He expressed this opinion at the plenary session of the “Day of National Priorities” at the exhibition-forum “Russia” on May 8. At the same time, increasing labor productivity in the regions will help achieve such indicators if they are equal to the capital. According to Belousov, labor productivity in Moscow already corresponds to the European level and this experience should be replicated in other regions. If by 2030 they are at least half as close to the level of labor productivity that Moscow has achieved, then the task of increasing labor productivity will be solved for the country as a whole.
The problem of the development of Russian regions is a long-standing one. And people in “high offices” pay a lot of attention to it. The point, of course, is not only the difference between labor productivity that Belousov announced. “The uniform development of Russian regions is an extremely difficult task, since they all have different financial capabilities of the regional budget for investment, and the current levels of their development vary greatly,” noted Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov. — At the same time, the incomes of Russian regions also vary greatly. Some of them are, in principle, subsidized, and some have a high degree of debt to the center, so the financial possibilities for their development are disproportionate.”
Budgetary security, which the president drew attention to, is an equally important task for maintaining development. To reduce the gap in the levels of budgetary security between the 10 most affluent and 10 least affluent subjects of Russia, economists advise taking several steps.
Firstly, the gap can be reduced by distributing budget transfers from the most successful regions to subsidized ones. Secondly, it is necessary to create conditions under which regions will be interested in forming their own growth points for regional development, for example, they will create technological clusters and industrial zones, which will ultimately work to increase the country’s overall GDP, which is also mentioned in the presidential decree . So, according to the associate professor of the Basic Department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation “Human Resource Management” of the Russian Economic University. G.V. Plekhanov Farida Mirzabalayeva, the issue of uniform, sustainable socio-economic growth of regions has been on the agenda for a long time, and programs to smooth out interregional imbalances are implemented through a system of allocating subsidies to regions, subsidizing employment, and implementing national projects. However, the issue of differentiation of regions remains relevant, since the structure of the economy and the location of production has regional specifics and it developed a long time ago, which causes difficulties in restructuring. Certain regions traditionally specialize in agriculture, others in manufacturing, others in recreation, etc., i.e. There are few highly diversified regions (such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, etc.). The mechanisms of government procurement, grants, organizational recruitment, and increasing the mobility of qualified labor can also help in the development of regions, the expert pointed out.