The East Siberian Macroregion in the 21st Century From the Perspective of the Eastern Vector of Development: Challenges to the Subjects

In light of changing socioeconomic and geopolitical conditions, identifying the characteristics of changes in the economic environment of a large domestic resource-producing macroregion – Eastern Siberia – is an extremely important topic. The territory of the macroregion, taking into account the historical and geographical factors and the peculiarities of economic development, is considered part of seven subjects in the central part of Siberia, including the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Trends and problems in the development of the territory are presented using the example of model subjects and the demographic behavior of the population over the past two decades. A number of primary reasons for the ongoing multidirectional socio-economic changes in the context of the «turn to the east» are identified, and issues of economic security in border regions are considered. The following trends have been identified: the industrial structure is being simplified, the demographic potential continues to decline, a steady western drift of the demographic mass is observed, and the population is concentrated in the administrative centers of the macroregion’s constituent entities.