INFRASTRUCTURE POTENTIAL OF RUSSIAN REGIONS AS A FACTOR OF SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of the study is to develop a methodological approach to assess the infrastructure potential of the territory as a tool for monitoring the effectiveness of the implementation of the state regional policy in the field of infrastructure development. The algorithm for comparative assessment of the infrastructure potential of regions is substantiated in the article. The authors believe that a regular assessment of the level of infrastructure development (infrastructure capacity) of macro-regions and regions subjects of the Russian Federation, along with the monitoring of the achievement of the targets established, should be provided within the framework of implementation approved at the Federal and regional levels, of programmes and plans for infrastructure development. The proposed method of cost estimation of the region's infrastructure potential is based on the use of an integral indicator of the territory's fund saturation, taking into account the qualitative characteristics of the state of fixed assets. The study revealed a significant spatial differentiation of Russian regions in terms of infrastructure potential that helped to group them by the level of its development. The difference between the maximum and minimum values of the infrastructure potential assessment (even without taking into account the federal cities) exceeds 730 times. The cities of federal significance - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, as well as the republics of Crimea and Tatarstan, Krasnodar, Moscow and Kaliningrad regions have the maximum infrastructure potential. The infrastructure potential is evenly decreasing to the East and North of the country. The republics of Tyva, Sakha (Yakutia), Magadan region, and the Chukotka Autonomous Region have the lowest indicators of territory's fund saturation and correspondingly low level of infrastructure potential development. More than a quarter of all Russian regions have a lower level of infrastructure development than the national average. Based on the correlation analysis, it was found that the size of the territory's infrastructure potential has a direct positive impact on the inflow of investments to the regions and the growth of GRP, and therefore is one of the important factors of economic growth and increasing the competitiveness of the regional economy. The results obtained within the study can be applied in the practice of managing the development of territories when forecasting and developing strategies of the socioeconomic development of new macro-regions of Russia, and also used for monitoring the state policy of infrastructure development.