NATURAL RESOURCES, SETTLEMENT SYSTEM AND THE ROLE OF SINGLE-INDUSTRY TOWNS IN THE SPATIAL ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARCTIC KARELIA REGIONAL ECONOMY

The article examines the Karelian Arctic region, formed due to the inclusion of a number of territories into the Russian Arctic. It provides a description of its geographical position and analyzes the dynamics of spatial development, the settlement system and mineral resource base, tourist, biological resource and fishery potential. The authors outline significant differentiation of the economic space of the region. They note that the natural resource and socio-economic potential is used extremely unevenly within the Arctic Karelia region. The authors reveal the decisive role of single-industry towns in the formation of trends in the spatial development of the region under study. Under existing conditions, they act as poles of economic growth and maintaining the population of the northern territories, with general trends of degradation of the settlement system and the aggravation of the sparseness of the economic space. The researchers analyze spatial localization of ongoing and planned investment projects in the region, determine and explain its regularities. The paper identifies the prerequisites for enhancing the economic development of the Belomorsk part of the Karelian Arctic, represented by two vectors: internal (from the existing economic centers within the region of the Karelian Arctic) and external (from the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions). The existing economic ties between the enterprises of the Belomorsk part of the Karelian Arctic, the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions, as well as a number of projects in the mining, fishery, tourism and logistics spheres represent a significant potential for the interdependent development of the Arctic regions. For a more complete use of the existing development potential in these conditions, it is necessary to transform the role of single-industry towns in the formation of the regional economic space by improving the special economic regime and introducing institutional innovations. Improving the special economic regime of the Russian Arctic is one of the priority mechanisms for diversifying mono-profile economies, transitioning to innovative growth models and involving depressed territories in economic development processes.

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