Competitive position the Urals area regions occupy in the global economy: the status quo and the development trends

The author tried to answer the question of what position the Urals area regions occupy in today's political and economic environment. The author identifies and analyzes the processes that make the regional economy competitive; he assesses the regional development scenarios and the development scenarios' potential consequences and the consequences of the economic development strategies' use. The author also examines the economic ties linking the Urals area regions and the region Republics; he examines the issue of whether the territories are naturally linked to each other or whether the whole area is an «artificial» territory. Besides, the author examines such issues as, for instance, the Urals Area position on the Russian political map and in the Russian economy. The research findings the author presents here help form a better regional economic policy whose main task is to develop the regional economy efficiently and make it competitive.