The article is devoted to issues related to the study of problems and substantiation of priorities for the development of small towns from the standpoint of the structural and functional model of organizing the socio-economic space.

The purpose of the article is to substantiate regional and sectoral priorities for the development of various types of small towns as supporting nodes of the country’s spatial framework. The study is based on general scientific and special research methods (structural and functional, analysis of the regulatory framework, OTSW analysis, economic and mathematical methods, etc.). The methodological basis of the study were the concepts and theories of regional, spatial economics, the theory and methodology of strategizing by V.L. Kvint. The information base of the study was the data of Rosstat, strategic documents of spatial development of the federal and regional levels, regulatory legal acts, data from the service for analyzing the financial and economic activities of enterprises Kontur.Fokus, etc. The article substantiates that the key task of turning small towns into the country’s core settlements is to strengthen their “centrality” by activating socioeconomic ties with large cities (agglomerations) and rural areas. At the same time, for each type of small town, taking into account their specialization and peripherality, it seems important to justify strategic development priorities based on existing and projected competitive advantages. Taking this into account, the work proposes a matrix of regional and industry priorities for the development of small towns as core hubs, taking into account the achievement of the country’s national goals. It is substantiated that an important role in the implementation of these priorities is given to the development of the institution of inter-municipal cooperation. A conceptual scheme for organizing inter-municipal cooperation from the standpoint of a stakeholder approach is proposed, which will improve the efficiency of using the potential of this institution for ensuring inter-territorial integration through the active involvement of business structures in this process. Using the example of the Arkhangelsk agglomeration, which includes a large, large, small city, as well as rural areas, inter-municipal projects are substantiated, the implementation of which will improve the efficiency of using the potential of these territories. 

This article examines the dynamics of female representation in regional parliaments of Siberia and the Russian Far East from 2014 to 2024, focusing on SDG 5.5.1 (a) indicator, aimed at promoting gender equality in legislative bodies. Analyzing data from 24 regions, the study reveals significant disparties: only three regions exceed the UN-recommended 30% threshold for women’s parliamentary representation. Key barriers include socio-cultural stereotypes, the dual burden of domestic and professional responsibilities, and unequal access to party resources.

The methodology combines quantitative analysis of parliamentary composition and biographical profiling of 179 female deputies, highlighting the pivotal role of the education sector and civil society organizations in mobilizing women into politics.

Novelty lies in the comprehensive decade-long analysis of regional trends, emphasizing the unique socio-demographic and institutional contexts of Siberia and the Far East. The study introduces new insights into the role of educational institutions and NGOs as pathways for women’s political recruitment, while re-evaluating the effectiveness of gender quotas and advocating for alternative strategies.

Theoretical contribution is the integration of global SDG frameworks into the study of Russian regional politics, enriching debates on institutional and cultural factors hindering gender parity. It challenges conventional narratives by emphasizing the interplay between structural barriers and individual agency.

Practical implications include policy recommendations such as mentorship programs, institutional support for work-family balance. The findings can inform regional and federal initiatives to enhance women’s political participation, ensuring not only quantitative representation but also substantive influence in decision-making. 

This article examines the transformation of political parties in the emerging postmodern era, characterized by a rejection of rigid ideological principles and a rethinking of modern-era institutions. Under these conditions, party dominance acquires particular significance as a form of political leadership capable of responding to the fragmentation of the social sphere and the redefinition of the very nature of power, which increasingly relies on mediatization and symbolic communication.

Purpose. The study aims to identify the factors that account for the emergence of party dominance in the postmodern context and to analyze the evolution of the ideological and organizational models of political parties dictated by the changed circumstances.

Methods. The research is based on a theoretical analysis of scholarly works devoted to postmodern transformations of society. The author employs a comparative method to analyze party dominance in Western and modernizing countries.

Scientific Novelty. The author offers a comprehensive view of the dominant party as an institutionalized strategy of political leadership, implying flexible ideological frameworks and the use of media resources. The novelty lies in interpreting the phenomenon of dominance through the prism of postmodern values: the rejection of rigid ideological boundaries, global mediatization, and the situational identity of voters.

Results. It is shown that it is precisely postmodernity, with its decentralized discursive practices and shifting social boundaries, that has created a unique environment for entrenching dominance as a stable form of party influence.

Conclusions. Party dominance performs an integrative function in conditions of postmodern fragmentation, ensuring social stability, reproducing value consensus, and minimizing conflicts. 

The article proposes a methodical approach to assess competitive advantages, determine the degree of readiness of regions to create a new type of agglomerations — open diffuse agglomerations. The need to develop open diffuse agglomerations is due to the requirements of strategy theory, strategizing methodology to use new asymmetric approaches to obtain breakthrough results.

The aim — to develop and test a methodological approach to a comprehensive assessment of the competitive advantages of Russian regions for the creation of open diffuse agglomerations.

Methods. The study is based on the general theory of strategy, the methodology of strategizing by academician V. L. Kvint, and the theory of competitive advantages by M. Porter. The methods of descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, rating assessments (with additive and multiplicative convolution of individual indicators), and cluster analysis were used.

Results. Competitive advantages of the region for the creation and development of open diffuse agglomerations should be assessed by indicators of demographic and economic density, urbanization, spatial concentration of population and economic activity, density and quality of roads. According to the results of rating assessments, cluster analysis, the Kemerovo Region — Kuzbass is among the leading regions of Russia in terms of readiness to create open diffuse agglomerations. The most pronounced competitive advantages are a high level of urbanization, a low degree of spatial concentration of population and economic activity, good quality of roads.

Conclusions. Kemerovo Region — Kuzbass has clear competitive advantages for the formation of open diffuse agglomerations, which allows for the successful implementation of the corresponding strategic priority for the development of the region.

Currently, the organization of an economic war against Russia is becoming a key element of European policy. The Baltic region is teetering on the brink of open conflict, and the West’s actions are aimed at undermining Russian sovereignty in the region without a direct military clash.

The purpose of the research in this article is to analyze the nature of the risks of confrontation in non-military, i. e. non-classical economic security formats. Geographically, the object of research partly belongs to the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, partly to the Baltic — tending part of the Northwestern Federal District — St. Petersburg, Leningrad and Kaliningrad regions, the Republic of Karelia.

The research methodology is based on the scientific approaches of integrated regional studies combined with the approaches of researchers in the field of regional economics.

The authors consider the Baltic region as a zone of increased confrontation between Russia and the collective West (NATO — EU) in the context of the concepts of the “gray zone” — a space where traditional military threats are combined with hybrid methods of warfare.

The key factors of the escalation of tension in the region are analyzed, and key attention is paid not to militarization in the narrow sense, but to the economic aspects of regional security. Some theoretical issues and the nature of threats in the Baltic Sea region are considered.

Based on the analysis, the authors point out that significant risks remain for the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, the role of which will nevertheless decrease in favor of both studied and new economic security risks. 

The sustainability of the socio-economic system is largely determined by the level of economic security at its micro level. In this regard, ensuring corporate economic security is of great importance. The article analyzes the stages of formation and development of the concept of corporate economic security, the formation of its modern paradigm, as well as its transformation in the face of new challenges. Particular attention is paid to the key factors that determine the dynamics of changes in the understanding of corporate economic security, such as the globalization of markets, the emergence of new types of threats and the increasing importance of the information resource. A critical analysis of existing theoretical approaches is carried out, shortcomings of classical models are identified and prospects for further research are outlined. A conclusion is made about the need for further detailing of mechanisms for ensuring the economic security of an enterprise in a changing geopolitical situation and a growing level of uncertainty. The specifics of the Russian situation are considered separately, noting the special importance of the regulatory component and the need to develop a unified model of corporate economic security that meets the characteristics of domestic business.

The purpose of the article is to consider the problems of the functioning of the customs service of Russia and the regulation of parallel imports in order to ensure economic security in the current state of foreign trade. The tasks that the authors solve are to reveal the main directions of development of customs activities as a tool for ensuring economic security, to consider the issue of customs regulation of parallel imports subject to the implementation of the concept of “Intelligent Customs” and the formation of a single information space within the EAEU.

As a result, the authors have organized the most important trends and problematic issues of parallel imports today, as one of the elements of the economic security of the Russian Federation, and proposed ways to solve these problems. 

The relevance of the topic is due to the need to modernize customs administration in the context of digitalization and increasing requirements for the quality of customs services provided. In addition, the issues of assessing and improving the quality of e-customs services have not been sufficiently studied.

The article uses the methods of a questionnaire survey of the expert community, statistical processing of the results, as well as an integrated assessment based on a system of indicators of the effectiveness and efficiency of electronic customs.

The purpose of the study is to develop a methodological approach for a comprehensive assessment of the quality of customs services provided by electronic customs offices, taking into account the introduction of digital technologies. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the adaptation of the expert questionnaire method to the specifics of electronic customs in the context of digital transformation. Unlike typical studies of the quality of public services, the focus is on assessing the prospects for the introduction of specific digital tools, identifying risks and barriers, as well as their impact on the speed of service provision, the legality of decisions taken and the effectiveness of customs authorities.

The results of an empirical study are presented: priority digital tools and potential risks of their implementation are identified, an integral index of the quality of customs services before and after digitalization is calculated. It is shown that the introduction of promising digital solutions provides a significant increase in the speed of customs operations, the legality of decisions taken in the field of customs and economic efficiency. The developed methodological approach and the decomposition of the elements of the methodological approach to improving the quality of customs services provided by electronic customs in the context of digital transformation can be used to monitor and manage the quality of customs services in the process of digital transformation of customs authorities. Unlike the existing methodological approaches, the methodological approach proposed by the author for the first time integrates the performance and efficiency indicators of electronic customs into a single index, which provides a more comprehensive and objective assessment of the quality of customs services provided by electronic customs. 

Relevance. The study is devoted to the analysis of the possibility of using the synthetic control method to assess the effectiveness of policies for the implementation of large projects. The Amur region has been selected for the study, where in recent years the construction of a gas processing plant has been underway, which is an important link in the technological supply of natural gas to China via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, and the main stage of construction of the Vostochny cosmodrome has been completed.

Objective. To evaluate the policy effectiveness of large-scale infrastructure projects on the development of Amur region.

Hypothesis. The development experience of each region is unique, especially considering the implementation of large infrastructure projects. Development requires an assessment of the optimality of management decisions and the resources used, for which a number of modern methodological tools have been developed. It is assumed that the impact of projects on development is positive, they serve as a multiplier of growth, but this is not obvious for Russian regions, since previously such effects have not been sufficiently studied.

Method. The study employs the synthetic control method, which enables the creation of a counterfactual regional development scenario for comparison. The method was implemented using Python programming language in Jupyter Notebook environment. This method is particularly relevant for the study as it provides an empirical evaluation of government decision effectiveness during large-scale economic transformations, offering clear interpretability and reliability through statistical verification of results. This marks the first application of the method for analyzing indicators in Amur Region.

The results may prove valuable for shaping regional policies and for research in public administration and sectoral regulation of other Russian regions. The study demonstrates significant growth in key indicators such as gross regional product and average monthly nominal wages since 2018, with statistical verification of the obtained data. This growth is associated with effective regional policies for infrastructure project implementation.

Key conclusion. The study confirms the applicability of the synthetic control method for assessing policy impacts when examining unique interventions, such as the infrastructure projects implemented in Amur region in recent years.

The purpose of the article is a comprehensive analysis of the functioning and development of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in the conditions of internationalization of the world economy and strengthening of China’s role in the international financial arena. The exchange is presented as a crucial element of the global financial system, with the identification of its potential, problems and prospects in the conditions of transformation of the world economy of the XXI century. The article uses a mixed methodological approach that combines both quantitative (statistical, dynamic) and qualitative (comparative, normative) research methods. Special attention is paid to the dynamics of capitalization, trading volumes, investment attraction and evolution of SSE market infrastructure. The paper emphasizes the significance of the RMB as a growing international currency and its role in enhancing the competitiveness of the Chinese financial market.

The paper also describes the specifics of the SSE’s trading organization, including the dual currency system of A and B shares, the absence of a short-selling mechanism and market makers, and the high proportion of individual investors. Data on the number of listed companies, turnover volumes and changes in major indices, including the SSE Composite, are given. It analyzes the place of the Shanghai Stock Exchange among the world’s largest stock exchanges in terms of capitalization, where it ranks 4th.

A special emphasis is made on internal and external risks to which the Chinese stock market is exposed, including dependence on macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical factors and insufficient development of the legal framework. At the same time, it is shown that effective state management measures and consistent internationalization policy allowed China to strengthen the position of the SSE as one of the central elements of the international financial system. The article demonstrates that despite the existing challenges, the Chinese stock market maintains a steady trend towards growth and modernization. 

The global crisis of 2008–2009 put an end to the upward trend of globalization, while accelerating the transition to a multipolar world. The purpose of the article is to clarify and detail the current manifestations of the globalization crisis and to show their impact on the US foreign policy course and the transformation of the international order. A convincing expression of the crisis under consideration was the rivalry between the United States and China, initiated by President Barack Obama in 2011 in 2018. It has escalated into an open trade war between the world’s leading economies. Although US President Donald Trump declared war on China, it continued under the next president Joe Biden (2021–2024). After returning to the White House, Trump brought the trade standoff with China to a logical conclusion in just a few months, as his tariff initiatives effectively halted economic cooperation between the two countries by the end of April 2025. It seems that these seemingly ill-considered actions by the US administration concealed an attempt to ease the burden of the 37 trillion national debt, which poses a mortal danger to the country. In the same vein, cuts in funding for specialized UN agencies and other organizations, including NATO, as well as government policy measures leading to a reduction of the dollar’s global mission, should be considered. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that Trump’s weakening of support for the global financial system inevitably leads to the “nationalization” of the dollar and the transformation of the United States into an ordinary state, albeit with all the hallmarks of a great power. In other words, deglobalization occurs not only in the economy, but also manifests itself at the political level. Before our eyes, the United States is abandoning its imperial status, abandoning support for a liberal rules-based order, and becoming one of the influential participants in a multipolar world. Beijing and Moscow welcome the ongoing changes in American and world politics and declare their readiness to cooperate with Washington based on the principles of peaceful existence, mutual trust and respect, as well as mutually beneficial trade. 

The article is devoted to the study of value orientations of young people. The purpose of the study is to analyze the problems of life values and assess the transformation of value orientations of young people in comparison with the older generation in the context of socio-economic and cultural changes. The relevance of the work is due to the deepening generational gap, which manifests itself in value conflicts: young people emphasize self-realization, human rights and friendship, while the older generation focuses on patriotism, unity of peoples and historical memory. The research methods are sociological methods of collecting information, interpretive analysis, synthesis and analysis, a combination of classical methods of sociological research (survey, questionnaire) allows us to identify trends and directions of perception by society of modern youth, secondary analysis of the results of sociological research of the leading sociological centers of the country.

The results of the study allow us to state that despite the differences, the family remains common, but less significant for young people, which requires adaptation of measures to support young families. The study leads us to the conclusion that the main obstacle for young people is the factors of employment and housing, but creative work as a value is mentioned only by 11% of respondents, which indicates a dissonance between the need to work and the lack of motivation.

Conclusions. The education factor has become the determining factor in society’s expectations, which has stimulated education reforms with an emphasis on digital skills. Every fourth respondent associates the problems of young people with the lack of ideals. Religion and the priority of the spiritual over the material remain marginal factors, which emphasizes the search for a new identity through digital communities and self-realization. The study records a shift from material and labor values to education, patriotism and soft skills, as well as an increase in the generational gap. Recommendations include adapting social policy to the needs of young people (flexible forms of parenting, digitalization of education) and rethinking spiritual and moral guidelines in the context of geopolitical turbulence. 

The relevance of the topic is determined by the growing importance of soft power in international relations. One of its instruments is the export of education. An analysis of statistics from Russian universities for 2018-2024 shows that despite the overall growth in the number of students from abroad, the proportion of students from CIS countries is declining. Although they are considered the main source of foreign educational migrants. The same trends are observed in St. Petersburg universities.

The aim of the study is to analyse the prospects for educational migration to St. Petersburg universities of young people from six republics of the former USSR (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), which are currently actively participating in the activities of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The theoretical basis is H. Esser’s new economic theory of migration. The empirical basis consists of an analysis of the 35 most cited and relevant articles containing the results of empirical studies published in the Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI) in 2027–2025 and materials from an online survey of 298 students from 24 St. Petersburg universities from 53 countries. Students from six CIS countries account for 32.5%. The survey was conducted in May–June 2025. To determine the prospects for educational migration, we used a qualitative scenario forecasting method.

Main results. In scientific literature, nine factors are most often mentioned as attractive factors for studying in Russia, with the most frequently mentioned being proficiency in the Russian language. According to the results of an online survey, the importance of socio-cultural factors for students from CIS countries was not so high; economic factors and a higher quality of life in Russia were more important. The leading role of the opinion of the immediate environment in choosing a city for study and a specific university was noted. The forecast hypotheses were based on factors identified in the literature: economic, logistical, socio-cultural and quality of education (recognition of diplomas), and the factor of the opinion of the immediate environment, identified within the framework of the new economic theory of migration. The negative scenario assumes a critical reduction in the flow of students from six CIS countries, while the positive scenario assumes stable growth.

The main recommendations relate to the use of the city’s tourism potential in recruiting foreign students to St. Petersburg universities, increasing the activity of universities on social networks in foreign countries, and using university graduates to promote Russian and St Petersburg education in their countries. 

On June 26–27, 2025, St. Petersburg hosted the IX International Nevsky Forum “Russia in a Multipolar World: Politics, Economics, Education”, which brought together Russian and foreign experts in the field of public and business management. The article provides an overview of the main discussions of the forum, the results of scientific research, applied solutions for the implementation of national and international policies, the development of regions and economic sectors in the current geopolitical and technological conditions of society.