Regional differentiation in the Russian federation: A cluster-based typification

granted sovereignity, and the amount thereof. Attention is drawn to substantial
differences in taxation and budgetary fiscal policies pursued with regard to certain
regions. It is also pointed out that national territorial entities has already taken
advantage over their exclusively Russian counterparts in setting up such
institutions as president, parliament, etc. It should be noted, however, that only four
autonomous entities can boast the number of their population exceeding 1.5 mln
each, where as the number of oblasts in the Federation noted for the same make
up 46%, with the krays the figure running into 100% whatsoever. And only five
Russian autonomous territories show the predominance of indigenous population.

That the RF administrative structure should undergo significant changes has
become imminent. The press is abundant in all sort of suggestions and
proposals, pointing in particular, to the federative systems of Germany or USA as
examples to follow. Immediate solution to the issue, however, is hardly expedient
given the current economic situation in RF.

A number of RF subjects, such as autonomous okrugs, autonomous oblasts and
cities of federal importance are incorporated territorially into other RF subject
(krays, oblasts). For example, Tyumen Oblast has two more subject, i.e. Khanty-
Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous okrugs. The same can be said about
other RF subjects, including Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk Krays; Irkutsk, Chita,
Kamchatka, Perm, Arkhangelsk Oblasts, etc.

RF has multilayer regional structure. Considering a region as RF subject, we can
see that the upper level (rank) of the regions is made up of economic zones and
interregional assotiation, while their lower level (rank) incorporates administrative
entities of different levels, such as Oblast-center cities, city areas, towns, urban-
type settlements, and other inhabited localities or their conglomerates.

Economic zones are the object of government forecasting, acoounting and
statistical records, working out of major interregional programs aimed to
implement a long-range strategy of plant location and development and bringing
solution to social and ecological problems within their territorial boundaries. The
economic zones will be established at the Federal government level (see
illustration 2 of the Annex).

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