Doctor of Economics Sciences, Professor, Department of Applied Informatics and Mathematical Methods in Economics, Volgograd State University 

allakalinina@volsu.ru 

Prosp. Universitetsky, 100, 400062 Volgograd, Russian Federation 

Candidate of Economic Sciences, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Astrakhan State University 

krukovae@mail.ru 

Tatishcheva St., 20a, 414056 Astrakhan, Russian Federation 

Abstract. The creation of special zones is an important area of state regional policy, this tool has been actively used in Russia since 2005 and although special economic zones (SEZ) were created mainly in developed regions, this process has faced difficulties caused by: an excessively rigid and inflexible typology of such zones, Directive established; the lack of effective, flexible mechanisms for managing large areas of territory; ineffective control over the expenditure of allocated funds, the inertia of regional authorities and a number of other reasons. At the end of 2017, the best performance indicators were demonstrated by Russian SEZ of industrial and production type, one of such zones “Lotus” was created in the Narimanov district of the Astrakhan region in 2015, which was influenced by the active development of the Caspian sea shelf in recent years. Specialization of the zone: shipbuilding and production of components for it and for oil and gas equipment; production of crane equipment; instrumentation; mechanical engineering; Metalworking; chemical and light industry. The period of development of the SEZ “Lotus” is designed for 2016-2025. at the first stage (2016-2018), vertical planning, engineering and transport support were carried out, entry and customs zones were created, the necessary engineering infrastructure was brought to the sites of the first resident companies. Today an area of extensive work has been conducted on the construction of main networks of water supply and sanitation, electrical networks, sewage pumping stations, control chambers, water etc. In the SEZ “Lotus” de jure listed as 8 residents, but the actual activity is performed only by a shipbuilding plant “LOTOS”. In 2018, the authorities of the Astrakhan region expect to attract at least 5 more companies, mainly Russian, as residents due to the introduction of Western foreign economic sanctions against Russia. 

Key words: regional policy, zoning, special economic zone, industrial production zone, residents, risks, Astrakhan region, strategy, benefits, investments, advantages, development, efficiency.

Attachments:/3_Kalinina_Krukova.pmd.pdf