Baikal Zone as a Sub-Region: Methodological Approaches to Development

The object of the study is the Baikal zone allocated by the authors as a set of territorial, economic and environmental resources of the subjects of the Federation adjacent to Baikal – the Irkutsk Region, the Republic of Buryatia. The objective contradiction between the environmental component and the need for socio-economic development limits the possibilities of territorial development and provokes conflicts of regional interests between trans-Baikal subjects. In order to harmonize environmental, economic and administrative-organizational trends in the effective use of territorial resources, a draft methodological justification for the allocation of the Baikal zone to the trans-Baikal subregion with a special ecological, economic and administrative status is proposed. Based on the analysis of domestic and foreign experience in the development and implementation of large-scale regional development programs, methodological recommendations are formulated for modeling the administrative and management system of the subregion. As for the formation of an environmentally oriented optimal sectoral structure of the territory, possible sources of financing for the projected Concept of socio-economic transformation of the Baikal zone are proposed.