Assessment of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Economy of Russian Regions

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on the sustainability of the social, economic and environmental development of countries and regions. Differences in the structure of the economy of the subjects of Russia and the rate of spread of infection give rise to an assumption about the spatial unevenness of the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this work is to determine the degree of impact of COVID-19 on various types of regional economies, taking into account industry specifics. The article presents the theoretical base of the study based on foreign and domestic sources, considers the spread of coronavirus infection in the regions of the Russian Federation using the indicator “total number of cases of COVID-19 (per 1000 people)†, the dynamics of the unemployment rate at working age in the regions of Russia in 2018–2021, the dynamics of economic growth in the regions of the Russian Federation and the dynamics of the growth rate of GRP by sectors of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, specialization of the regions of the Russian Federation. Based on the results of the study, the regions of the Russian Federation were ranked according to the degree of influence of COVID-19 on their economic sphere: a) regions whose specialization is determined by natural and geographical factors (with the exception of tourism) experienced the least impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; b) regions whose economies are highly differentiated, large industrial and financial enterprises are located on their territory, the economic sphere of this group of regions has experienced a significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but recovery has been rapid; c) regions in whose economy a number of pandemic risk factors have been concentrated; d) economic outsider regions in the Russian Federation. The conducted research complements the cycle of works in the field of the impact of epidemics on the economy of regions and countries. The results obtained can be used to develop and implement a risk management policy to mitigate the consequences of anti-epidemic measures in the regions of the Russian Federation.