European and Asian Russia: Specialization or Diversification?

The European and Asian parts of Russia are very different: in the former, the climate is milder, the population is many times larger, there are many jobs, high incomes. The latter is losing population – educated youth and qualified personnel leave for European Russia, or even further away, the de-industrialization of Asian regions of Russia continues – processing industries are closing. The Russian government is allocating almost 900 billion rubles for seven priority projects, the goal of which is the infrastructural development of a stagnating economy. About half of these funds will go for the development of Asian Russia. This will undoubtedly give an impetus to the development of new industries, and it is important to understand which ones of them will become the industries of specialization of the region, and which ones will contribute to higher levels of diversification of the regions of Asia (subject of research). Can the region itself influence the change in the structure of its economy, if its main specialization loses its relevance (de-industrialization, depletion of sources of natural resources, etc.)? To do this, it is necessary to assess the current state of the region and determine a new vector of its development. One or two selected industries of specialization should be supported by a set of related industries that can help balance the situation and make the region sustainably diversified (goal). Assessment and comparison of the spatial characteristics and potentials of the economies of Asian and European regions of Russia are based on the comparative analysis of current regional statistics of Russia and the analysis of publications on this issue (method). Comparative analysis of the sectoral structure in European and Asian regions of Russia in the territorial context confirmed significant differences in the specialization and diversification of their economies, which led to a steady slowdown in growth rates in the Asian part of the country over the past 10 years. For a greater effect during the restoration of the destroyed sectoral structure, the active participation of the regions themselves in the formation of a new structure of the economy (results) is necessary