Regional features of attracting foreign investments into the Russian economy

Aspects of investment attractiveness of subjects of Russian Federation, where the mode of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) is applied, are reviewed in this article. Emphasizing the importance of foreign direct investment for overcoming the technological gap from the leading world economies, the authors discuss several SEZs selected for reasons of uniformity of their socio-economic status and purpose of creating SEZ mode in them. One of the main purposes for establishing the SEZ mode is the creation of investment attractiveness for projects, being implemented in these regions. Special Economic Zones of Technical Innovation Type (Tomsk), industrial type (Samara, Ulyanovsk, Elabuga) are analyzed in this article because these are the types of SEZ modes where borrowing is supposed, as well as introduction and development of modern technologies. In large-scale projects planned by the Government in these areas, participation of small businesses is almost ignored, which, from the point of view of the authors, harms the investment attractiveness of the projects. Identification of regional special characteristics of investment attractiveness of studied objects is carried out in comparison with the state of small business in these areas. Importance of small business development in the creation of a favorable investment climate is shown. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.