The problem of imbalance between the progress in Moscow and the rest of the country has existed for almost half a century. However, nobody has been able to fix this issue yet, according to Yury Krupnov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at the Institute of Demography, Migration and Regional Development.
The expert notes that aligning Russian regions in terms of development will require a range of measures. Krupnov adds that several years ago he even developed a doctrine for “de-Moscow-ing” Russia, which, however, was never implemented.
Moscow’s lop-sided development has been a problem for almost 50 years and emerged way before the 2000s and even the 1990s. However, to this day nobody has thoroughly analyzed the issue and no solution has been offered by the political establishment, the expert says.
In an interview with Svobodnaya Pressa, Yury Krupnov stresses that the imbalance in development is one of the most acute problems in Russia – perhaps the worst after the demographic problem. As one solution, the expert proposes transferring the capital to the east of the Urals. The Tver Region and the Vologda Region would then need a comprehensive boost as they are currently in a development pit.
Yury Krupnov also proposes re-industrialization of the country that is, creating new industries in the regions. Finally, a geocultural policy could be helpful in building back self-awareness in the provinces.