Assessment of the regional potential of technological sovereignty of the Russian Federation

Aim. To identify the regions with a high potential for ensuring technological sovereignty of the Russian Federation (RF).

Objectives. To perform a structural analysis of non-resource exports and imports of the RF regions; to propose a methodological approach to the development of typology of regions according to the criterion “the level of import dependence of production”; to identify the regional nuclei of technological sovereignty of the Russian Federation.

Methods. Two-stage structural analysis of statistical data on regional exports and imports with the allocation of the share of goods with low and high level of processing, as well as with the definition of the purpose of products: production or for consumption by the population. The choice of the research period is conditioned by the absence in 2019 of the influence of the factor of the decline in global production during the COVID-19 pandemic in the following years, as well as the absence of the pressure exerted by sanctions restrictions.

Results. 12 types of Russian regions were defined according to the criterion “high, medium and low levels of technological import dependence of the industrial complex”. The second level of the regional typologization depth is determined by the ratio of such indicators as the share of industrial technological export of the region in the country’s export, the share of industrial technological export of the region in the country’s technological export, the share of industrial technological import of the region in the country’s import, the share of industrial technological import of the region in the country’s technological import. Structural analysis allowed us to identify the regions - the nuclei of technological sovereignty of the country.

Conclusions. First of all, it is necessary to study the experience of economic activity of seven regions that have exports of technological products at a high level with a low level of technological import dependence of industry. Among these regions are the Irkutsk, Arkhangelsk, Penza oblasts, the Republic of Bashkortostan, Altai Krai, the Republic of Mari El, and the Komi Republic. Two leading regions of the listed subjects of the Russian Federation deserve special attention: the Irkutsk Oblast and the Republic of Bashkortostan. It is important to highlight the most successful cases of their sectoral development to be used in other territories in order to ensure national technological sovereignty.

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