Territorial gradients in the socioeconomic development of the Russian border regions
The paper analyzes the socioeconomic differences that have developed in different parts of the Russian borderland. A comparative assessment of territorial gradients on both sides along the entire Russian border is carried out based on the analysis of the collected database of statistical indicators characterizing demographic, economic and social development, as well as foreign economic relations of the border regions of Russia and neighboring countries for 2000–2016. The growth of differences in the demographic potential in the Russian-Chinese and Russian-Kazakhstan borders is revealed. In the post-Soviet border regions, the strengthening of the process of turning the border regions economies towards their countries and increasing the marginality of the border zones, which complicates interaction and cooperation. It is established that the greatest gradients in the economic development were noticed on the old, inherited from the Soviet Union, borders in the European part of the country. By the case of the analysis of economic and trade relations between the border regions of Russia and neighboring EU countries, as well as China, it is shown that the greater the gap in demographic and socioeconomic indicators, the higher the probability of unequal economic relations.