Digitalization Methods Used to Determine the Level of Development of Urban Economy in the Regions of the Russian Federation
Dmitry A. Rakov – Head of Strategic Consulting of Big Data Storage and Analytics of the Center for Digital Economy at the Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
X. Yu – Executive Secretary of the Sino-Russian Research Center for Digital Economy, Advisor, Moscow State University Center for Big Data Storage and Analysis, PhD in Political Sciences (Beijing, China). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Elizaveta K. Misyautova – Junior Science Work Specialist of Strategic Consulting of Big Data Storage and Analytics of the Center for Digital Economy at the Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The article deals with digitalization in the urban sphere and analyzes various methods of its evaluation. For the effective dissemination of digital technologies in Russian cities, it is necessary to monitor and analyze the factors of digitalization, as well as the results of the implementation of innovative technologies in urban areas. Methods and standards developed in Russia and abroad allow us to study the process of digitalization. There are various areas of application of methods for assessing the spread of innovative technologies in urban spaces allowing to meet the needs of many producers of urban services.
The article was written with the support of the Sino-Russian Research Center of Digital Economy.
Key words: smart city, digitalization of cities, smart city assessment methods, smart city index, smart city rating.
JEL-codes: O31, O32, O47.
Central Asian Countries Strengthen Cooperation with China
Nadezhda P. Volovik – Head of Foreign Trade Department of the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy; Senior Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Central Asia is establishing close relations with China. A China-Central Asia summit to be held in May will bring together Central Asian heads of state and the Chinese leader, which represents a new format for relations between the states. In the 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the volume of China’s foreign trade with the five Central Asian states has grown more than 100 times, the amount of Chinese direct investment in these countries has exceeded $14 bn. China’s huge market, enormous funds and advanced technology are very attractive to the Central Asian countries. Unfortunately, in the current situation, as Chinese influence grows, Russia’s ability to promote its interests in Central Asia has been noticeably diminished.
The article examines China’s relations with each of the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, in particular China’s bilateral trade relations with these countries, investment cooperation, and the implementation of the One Belt One Road initiative in Central Asia.
Key words: countries of Central Asia, China, cooperation.
JEL-codes: E20, E22, E23, E31, E52.
Carbon Neutrality and Tax Incentives
Vladimir V. Gromov – Senior Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
It is generally accepted to consider climate change regulation at the state as well international level. And attention to the problem of global warming will only grow in the coming decade. This is especially important for Russia because by 2030 greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced to 70% compared to 1990. This is the task which President of Russia Vladimir V. Putin has set for the Russian government. The movement in this direction has already been launched, as evidenced by the experiment to achieve carbon neutrality in the Sakhalin region.
The «green» policy vector simultaneously raised the issue of granting tax incentives to participants of climate projects in the form proposed by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development in 2021. Therefore, the article highlights the determinants of the territory choice for carrying out mentioned experiment and identifies shortcomings of the proposed concept of tax incentives. The article concludes with recommendations for their elimination.
Key words: carbon neutrality, carbon unit, climate policy, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, investment, regional economy, tax incentive, tax policy, tax system.
JEL-codes: E62, Q54.
Assessment of the Contribution of the Non-profit Sector to the Russian Economy: Opportunities for Further Development
Tatyana A. Ilyushnikova – Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Svyatoslav O. Sorokin – Director of Department for Social Services and Non-Profit Sector Development, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Antonina D. Levashenko – Senior Researcher of the Institute of International Economics and Finance, Russian Foreign Trade Academy under the Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation (Moscow Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ivan S. Ermokhin – Researcher of the Institute of International Economics and Finance, Russian Foreign Trade Academy under the Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation (Moscow Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Kirill A. Chernovol – Researcher of the Institute of International Economics and Finance, Russian Foreign Trade Academy under the Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation (Moscow Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Currently, the contribution of the non-profit sector to the economy is not systematically assessed in Russia. This is hindered both by the absence in the Russian system of national accounts of an auxiliary (satellite) account for contributions to the economy of the non-profit sector (the methodology for compiling such accounts was developed by the UN back in 2003), and by the insufficiency of existing statistical indicators in Russia for a full analysis of such a contribution. Based on world practice, the author’s methodology for assessing this contribution is proposed and the results of its application to the available data of 2021 are presented. The total contribution of NGOs to GDP in 2021 is about 1.5%.
Key words: Russian economy, non-profit sector, non-profit organizations, NGOs, methodology for assessing the contribution of NGOs to GDP, UN.
JEL-codes: L31, E20.
Complex of Indicators of the Financial Structure
Yury A. Danilov – Leading Researcher of the Department of Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The article proposes a set of indicators of the financial structure. This set of indicators is built on the basis of an approach that takes into account significant changes in the financial structure of the world’s largest economies, including Russia, after 2008. Taking into account that the share of non-banking financial institutions has sharply increased within the framework of the financial structure, it is advisable to move from a two-tier form of presentation of the financial structure («banks – financial markets») to a three-tier one («banks – non-banking financial institutions – financial markets»). The proposed set of indicators can become a methodological basis for applied analysis of the financial structure in various countries of the world, including Russia, as well as at the global level.
Key words: financial structure, financial markets, banking sector, non-banking financial institutions, credit organizations, institutional investors.
JEL-codes: C82, G10, G21, G23.
Socio-Economic Development of the Country in the Context of Sanctions Pressure
Ruslan A. Dolzhenko – Professor of the Labor Economics and Personnel Management Department, Ural State University of Economics, Doctor of Economic Sciences (Ekaterinburg, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Alexandr V. Nazarov – Assistant of the Labor Economics and Personnel Management Department, Ural State University of Economics (Ekaterinburg, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The aim of the study is to assess the current situation and opportunities for socio-economic development of the Russian Federation in the context of sanctions pressure and the need to revise the main benchmarks in the scientific and technological development of the country. Despite the unprecedented number of sanctions imposed on Russia by foreign states, the domestic economy has demonstrated a margin of safety, consolidated the capabilities of economic entities and the population to overcome the challenges facing the country and was able to choose new benchmarks for socio-economic development.
The analysis demonstrated that the experts’ forecasts of deteriorating socio-economic situation were not justified and the directions of reorientation of domestic economy in the context of the need to turn to the East, restructure supply chains, further import substitution and development of domestic industry were also determined.
Key words: sanctions, economic development, special military operation, new directions of economic development.
JEL-codes: E24, F51, O10.
Microfinance Market in 2022
Sergey A. Zubov – Senior Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Сandidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The imposition of anti-Russian sanctions had almost no effect on the activities of microfinance organizations (MFOs) and despite the slowdown in the growth rate of the total portfolio and the growth of funding costs the profitability and net income of MFOs hit all-time high levels over the past few years. This year MFOs will face regulatory restrictions aimed at minimizing credit risks; adapting to the new conditions will stabilize the situation in the industry and balance the risk-income ratio.
Key words: microfinance market, microfinance organizations, MFO credit rates, regulatory restrictions on MFO market.
JEL-codes: G01, G14, G21, G28.
Balance of Payments in Q1 2023
Alexandra V. Bozhechkova – Head of Monetary Policy Department of the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy; Senior Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Alexander Yu. Knobel – Head of Foreign Trade Department of the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy; Director of Center for Foreign Trade Department of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Director of the Institute for International Economics and Finance, Russian Foreign Trade Academy, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Pavel V. Trunin – Head of Center for Macroeconomics and Finance of the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy; Director of Center for Сentral Banks Studies of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Doctor of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
At the end of Q1 2023, the current account surplus shrank almost 4 times compared to Q1 2022 as a result of a reduction in the value of exports and sanctions restrictions. The financial account deficit was shaped influenced by the reduction of foreign liabilities of all sectors of the economy accompanied by a simultaneous growth of foreign assets. The reduction in the trade balance and drop of net sales of foreign currency by the largest exporters contributed to the ruble weakening in Q1 2023.
Key words: balance of payment, exports, imports, current account, ruble exchange rate, outflow/inflow of capital, Bank of Russia.
JEL-codes: E58, E44, F32, F21, F31.
Survey of Current Business (February-May 2023)
Sergey P. Aukutsionek – Head of Center for Transition Economy Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Andrey S. Yegorov – Senior Researcher of the Center for Transition Economy Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Inessa A. Bachirova – Researcher of the Center for Transition Economy Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tatyana V. Serzhantova – Researcher of the Center for Transition Economy Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia). E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
In February 2023, the level of the production capacity utilization rate for the second time in the history of REB’s observations (for the first time it happened in October 2022) amounted to a maximum of 89%. The level of the labor utilization rate is also almost at its maximum – 96% (compared to normal monthly level = 100%). The diffusion index of employment, having added 7 points per months, reached the maximum level for the entire 30-year history of observations – 58%. Among the diffusion indices of expected in three months changes, which in recent months look very optimistic, the output index should be noted. It added 2 more points and reached 69% – a value close to its maximum (it had raised higher only 5 times).
Key words: Russia, industry, industrial enterprises, price level, wages, employment, output, investment, indebtedness to banks, order-book level, stocks of finished products, capacity utilization rate, financial situation, production restrictive factors.
JEL-codes: D22, D24, G31, L23, P23.
