The purpose of this article is to analyze the trends in the development of the financial sector, as well as the digital technologies used in this area, to identify the fundamental drivers for improving the ecosystem of the financial sector of the economy. Achieving sustainable business growth is one of the urgent tasks of management, both at the level of individual enterprises and organizations and the national economic system as a whole. This issue is of the highest relevance in the context of the high dynamism of the external environment and the growing level of uncertainty. When writing the article, the following research methods were used: trend analysis, visual graphical analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation-regression analysis, and cross-tabulation. Based on the results of the analysis, it can be concluded that the following indicators have the greatest impact on the ecosystem of the financial sector: the share of financial organizations that had special software for managing the procurement of services; the share of financial organizations that had special software for managing the sales of services. With regards to the Russian financial sector, there is a weakness in the development of the ecosystem, which is partly due to the insufficient use of complex digital solutions in managing financial flows, for example, the use of ERP systems (enterprise resource planning), CRM systems (customer relationship management), and SCM systems (supply chain management). We believe that the conclusions and results presented in this article can be used as methodological tools for developing strategies for improving the ecosystem of the financial sector in the context of the transition to a digital economy.

The study of Russia's northern regions as frontier territories is the subject of this article. It has been shown that frontier territories are distinguished with special mechanisms of development and predominance of innovative projects in entrepreneurship. The management of the frontier territories is less centralized and depends more on personal and organizational qualities of local leaders. Distinctive features of the frontier territories brought about the fact that they have some specific demographic characteristics. One of the directions of the research is to clarify the question whether Russia's northern territories are frontiers or not at present time. This problem has been studied from two viewpoints. Firstly, on the basis of the authors' methodology the demographic indicators of Russia's northern territories were compared with the average Russian ones. Secondly, it has been estimated how special the management of the northern territories is in comparison with others.

The territory of the Arctic is of interest from the point of view of the strategic development of the economy. However, the industrialization of the Arctic zone is accompanied by both a positive and a negative influence on the country’s socio-economic development. An analytical review of the research which has been published previously allows us to discuss the issue of sustainable development in the Arctic through the prism of the theory of externalities. Considering this, the paper examines some relevant issues from the standpoints of the concept of sustainable development and scientific and technological progress. Against the background of the identified problems, the purpose of the research is to clarify management decisions in the field of internalization of the externalities of economic development of the Russian Arctic zone. As research methods, the authors have applied comparative analysis, dynamic analysis, the coefficient method, correlational analysis and cluster analysis. An analytical review of scientific works, research tooling and a statistical database concerning the development of the Russian Arctic zone provided the following scientific results: the category of “externalities” in the context of industrialization of the Arctic zone’s territories and their systematization in a number of areas (environmental, innovation, investment, infrastructure, social, etc.) has been clarified; some trends in the degree of neutralization of negative environmental externalities in terms of environmental problems (pollution capture, waste disposal, recycling and wastewater treatment) have been identified; the dynamics of investment per unit of environmental pollution in the context of environmental approaches have been elucidated; the efficiency of investments in environmental preservation measures in the territories of the Russian Arctic zone have been evaluated; positive innovative externality from the investment of own funds in the fixed capital of enterprises have been revealed; the typology of the subjects of the Russian Federation that form part of the Arctic zone, according to the criteria of the intensity of costs for neutralization of negative externalities (territories with high, moderate and low intensity of costs) have been suggested; and a package of measures in order to manage the external effects of economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation in the context of sustainable development has been proposed. The practical significance of the results obtained lies in the possibility of taking all of them into account in the implementation of the state program “Socio-economic development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation”, contributing to the qualitative development of the territories of the Russian Arctic and improving the well-being of the population of the corresponding constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

This article is devoted to the fundamental issue associated with contradiction between the growing geopolitical and economic importance and simultaneous rise in socio-economic loss in the Arctic zone of Russian Federation (AZRF), alongside with aggravation of structural disproportions of the economy and depletion of mineral reserves that had been prospected during the Soviet period, etc. The challenge ensues from the inconsistency of the declaratory orientation towards an innovation-driven economy to the extent of its domination in the government budget. However, actually, the mineral raw materials complex will in the foreseeable future define competitive advantage of Russia in the global economy, will be a donor for the national budget, the basis for modernization and the user of high technologies. At present the importance of the exploration of the Arctic is determined by the following governing factors. The first factor is the increased global fight for natural resources in the context of two diverse processes. The first process is strengthening of international cooperation for the efficient development in the severe environment and extreme territory of the Arctic. The second process is associated with the pursuit of state interests protected by each of the Arctic countries and by other countries laying their claims to areas of the Arctic. The second factor is the desirable compromise to be sought and achieved between missions of AZRF as the natural resource management zone, zone of scientific advance and technological modernization, zone of ecological cleanness as well as the territory inhabited by indigenous people, immigrants and adaptants. This article is an attempt to examine these most important issues towards the successful social, economic and ecological development of Russia. The research has been supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Grant No. 13-06-00030, and by the Russian Scientific Humanitarian Foundation, Grant No. 14-02-00128.

Представлен обзор методов государственной поддержки российского агропромышленного комплекса, определены наиболее адекватные современным условиям, направленные на то, чтобы не только вывести отрасль из кризиса с наименьшими потерями, но и обеспечить её долговременное развитие. Показано, что для достижения целей сбалансированного развития АПК особую значимость имеют долгосрочные программы государственной поддержки, в которых, среди прочего, определены индексные показатели успешности отрасли. Доказано, что, несмотря на относительно недолгий срок реализации и постоянную корректировку, в целом государственную поддержку АПК можно признать продуктивной. Однако кризис, вызванный пандемией коронавируса, снижением нефтяных доходов и девальвацией рубля, диктует необходимость поиска новых форм государственной поддержки. Для оценки перспектив сельскохозяйственного производства в условиях нового кризиса на основании авторской методики последовательно смоделированы несколько сценариев, отличающихся интенсивностью государственной поддержки АПК, влияющей на объёмы поступления на внутренний рынок импортной агропромышленной продукции, отечественное производство, размеры реэкспортной и экспортной продукции. Прогноз показал, что интенсивная государственная поддержка, заключающаяся, с одной стороны, в протекционистских мерах для отечественного сельхозпроизводства, а с другой стороны - в ограничительных мерах для импорта, в сложившихся условиях необходима для российского АПК. По мере укрепления отрасли и выхода из кризиса государственную поддержку можно ослабить, что не приведёт к негативным последствиям для российских сельхозпроизводителей. Сбалансированные методы господдержки не только позволят АПК выйти из кризиса с наименьшими потерями, но и обеспечат долговременное развитие отрасли, сопровождающееся импортозамещением, повышением качества жизни населения и ростом продовольственной безопасности...