SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES AS A KEY TO SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIA

Today, Free Economic Zones (FEZ) are actively used in the World as an instrument of regional policy. The experience creating FEZ in Russia in the 1990s cannot be called successful. Since 2005 this instrument has been actively used and the SEZ of industrial and production, technological and innovation, tourist-recreational and port types have been created in Russia. However, the effectiveness of the SEZ causes doubts nowadays, therefore a rethinking of the theoretical developments is required, as well as the foreign experience in the area specified. This article analyses the world practice of functioning of FEZ, their transformation into SEZ in Russia; it also evaluates the effectiveness of the functioning of special economic zones, identifies the problems of their development, and the directions for their solutions. The main goal of the article is to determine the most important directions for the creation and development of special economic zones in Russia in modern economic conditions. This is important because in the world free economic zones are a factor in accelerating economic growth. Since the entry into force of the Law on Free Economic Zones in Russia, the pace of investment has intensified, employment has increased, and exports have increased, which has positively affected the development of some regions. There is no doubt that special economic zones will continue to play an irreplaceable role in economic development. (c) 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK