Problems of food security in Russia

The principal problems of food security in the Russian Federation are reviewed in the article. Significant attention is paid to the analysis of the existing material and technical base of the agriculture, the location and specialization of the regions, energy conservation, and import substitution.     

Development prospects for the heating supply in Russia

The main factors that influence the consumption of heat energy in the centralized heating supply systems in the long term are discussed in this article. Consumption of heat energy by the population for space heating and hot water will be the most significant component of the demand. The possible extents of heat consumption and heat saving in the buildings of cities are estimated on the basis of an analysis of the advanced development of housing construction and the quality of dwelling units. It is shown that it is necessary to increase the annual creation of new pipeline networks to decrease accidents and heat losses. Several scenarios for the development of centralized heat supply systems within the limits of the long-term forecast of the FEC (Fuel and Energy Complex) development of the country until 2030 are discussed. It is shown that major changes in the structure of heat production can occur as limits increase for carbon dioxide emissions in centralized heat supply systems.     

Problems in estimating income differences in contemporary Russia

The paper analyzes various approaches used in calculating the income distribution of the Russian population. It describes a distribution model which uses special functions to adjust per capita income and expenditure data for HBI 5-percent groups to analogous indicators describing the balance of cash income and expenditure. Based on this model experimental calculations of the income distributions of the populations of Russia as a whole and of four of its constituent members were made.     

Educational credit in Russia: Problems and prospects

The paper analyzes problems and prospects of education crediting in Russia, sums up the author’s personal experience of participation in the development and management of the education crediting system within the framework of a private business initiative (the Credo program), as well as in various working groups (at the Russian Federation State Duma, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, etc.) set up to discuss opportunities and to work out recommendations for the development of educational credit in the Russian Federation.     

Problems and prospects of special economic zones in Russia

This article provides an evaluation of the efficiency of special economic zones in Russia for the 10 years since their establishment. An analysis of the possible courses of their development has been given. Approaches to models of SEZ administration and financing have been reconsidered.     

Problems of information support for predicting labor migration in Russia

The main sources of information for the study of labor migration are discussed, as well as foreign experience in conducting surveys and application applying other sources of migration data. We propose methodological approaches to organizing a household survey to obtain information on labor migration including identification and selection of respondents and determination of basic sets of questions for the survey questionnaire.     

Problems and prospects for the development of high-technology cardiology in Russia

This paper describes the role of high-technology cardiology in overcoming the phenomenon of supermortality due to diseases of the circulatory system. The authors attempt a systemic analysis of the barriers constraining progress in this area of medicine in the Russian Federation and offer a preliminary assessment of the potential for growth in high-technology cardiology services, along with characterizing the key conceptual elements of a development strategy and the problems that might arise during its design and implementation.     

The development tariff and investment in municipal heat supply systems

For years, investment in municipal housing and public utilities (MHPU) has been pronounced a cure-all for the woes of this sector in Russia. Housing services will certainly attract private investors. This assumption is, however, hardly justified for the debt-ridden monopolistic public utilities, where rates are strictly regulated and investment efficiency is low. Private investors expect to return their money. A federal law adopted at the end of 2004 pointed at an obvious source of return on investment, i.e., the investment component of the tariff turning a payback tariff into a development tariff. In this connection, it is important to find out whether the development tariff can be used to secure an acceptable payback period for investments in heat supply systems when the household solvency is low, if tariff rise entails sharp growth in budgetary expenditures on subsidies for the population, and the current heating tariff often fails to reach even the production cost level.     

Problems of peasant farms and their importance for Modern Russia

This article analyzes the development of peasant farms from 1990 to the present time and ascertains their increased share in the agricultural production and importance in the development of remote territories with small populations. An emphasis is put on the need for more state support for farming in remote areas of Russia, in particular, in Siberia and the Far East, near-border areas, and outposts of sparsely settled territories.     

Prospects for hydrogen use in decentralized power and heat supply systems

Possible uses of hydrogen produced from natural gas in fuel cells in decentralized power and heat supply systems are considered. Conditions for the competitiveness of the new technology compared to centralized and decentralized systems based on heat-and-power miniplants with gas-turbine and gas-piston engines are defined. Fuel cell-based systems that use natural gas as fuel are shown to be not energy-saving technologies, although they help reduce the discharges of carbon dioxide and other contaminants to the environment. Large-scale application of fuel cells in decentralized energy-saving systems is only possible if their cost is reduced below $100 per kilowatt.     

Methodological Problems of the Formation of the Concept of Food Security in Russia

In the article, the existing approaches to the definition of food security are considered, and their structure analyzed. The logic of the evolution of the concept of food security in the socio-economic development of the country is described, the actual directions of its adjustment in the Russian Federation are justified.     

Climate change,heat waves,and cold spells as risk factors for increased mortality in some regions of Russia

In this paper, the authors systematize the results of their original investigations into quantitative indicators of interactions between indicators of air temperature, air-pollution, and population mortality. The application of the time series method made it possible to identify the quantitative parameters of the impact made by temperature waves on mortality rates in Moscow (2000—2006) and in northern cities, such as Archangelsk, Murmansk, Magadan, and Yakutsk (1999–2007).     

Income differences and poverty: Problems facing Russia and the international experience of dealing with them

The topicality of income difference and poverty issues has greatly increased in post-Soviet Russia. Solutions to these problems are considered key goals of the country’s socioeconomic development. Factors behind the current situation are identified to develop specific measures for reducing the existing income differences and poverty level. The foreign experience in solving this problem is analyzed.     

Fixed Capital in Russia

The article analyzes the indicators of Russia’s national wealth, i.e., fixed capital, as well as its structure, accumulation, and efficiency. This opportunity arose due to the significant improvement in the information base of Rosstat, the development and publication of financial account tables, the balance of assets and liabilities, the revaluation account, other changes in assets and input–output tables for 2011–2015.     

Prospects of Economic Development in Russia

An overview has been given of the key themes that define the socioeconomic development of Russia today. Different aspects of today’s Russian economic policy have been analyzed and its shortcomings have been determined. The potential for economic growth has been assessed. Issues associated with financing the economy and interest rates on loans have been discussed. The role of high technologies and digitization in the economy has been reviewed. Proposals have been formulated for renewing national economic policy.     

Development of land turnover in Russia

The paper elucidates the problems of market land turnover in the Russian Federation. It analyzes the dynamics of the main types of transactions and areas involved into them at the land market of the country. The differentiation in the prices for state and municipal lands depending on the factors influencing land supply and demand is determined. The special attention is given to lands with agricultural destination.     

俄罗斯与欧盟经济关系:状况、问题和前景

20世纪90年代以来,俄欧经济合作在贸易、投资、能源等领域取得很大进展,同时俄欧经济关系中也存在着贸易关系不对称、商品结构不平衡等问题。新世纪俄欧经济关系仍然存在向前推进的相当潜力与空间。俄欧经济合作的深入将为俄欧之间的政治对话与战略合作创造良好的经济基础。     

Recovery of economic growth in Russia

The presented paper of the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences analyzes key macroeconomic and financial measures of contemporary Russian anticrisis policy, substantiates the main directions of growth recovery in the basic sectors of the economy and social sphere in the medium and long term, and considers the features of the regional economic growth recovery policy.     

Wholesale trade in Russia today

This paper compares the official and alternative statistical estimates of the financial performance of wholesale trade in 2001 and its dynamics in 2000–2004. The causes of the sector’s high profitability and the rise in turnover in recent years are ascertained. A comparative study of wholesale trade in the Soviet era and the present is made and the functions of wholesale in today’s Russia and economically advanced countries are contrasted. The negative role of wholesale trade in the present economy of Russia is demonstrated, which stems from the special characteristics of the functions it performs. The case is made for a sharp increase in the sector’s taxation and the amount of its possible tax load is calculated.