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The disparity of economic development between regions of Russia is still under discussion. To date, a range of methods and models for evaluation of regional inequality exist. Russian researchers use statistical indicators (Gini and variation coefficients, Atkinson and Tail indexes) to measure the level of difference between GRP, population income, salary, investment allocation, tax incomes, budget incomes and others. The authors associate the disparity of regional development with the natural and artificial competitive advantages and with institutional factors. The article focuses on the problems and priorities of the prospective development of raw areas in Russia. It contains the analysis of the current level of regional social economic development and key criteria for the selection of regions whose development is significantly determined by the mineral resources availability. Current economic situation has been worsening due to reduction of raw material mining. The objective is to find the factors useful for developing the economic growth potential not dependent on mining. Econometric methods were used in the research. At the preliminary stage, structural analysis were conducted, it allows identifying the most important sectors for economic regional development. The technique involves the construction of the equation demonstrating how the total output of the industry depends on several factors: investments in fixed capital, number of workers in industry, wage level, etc. The resulting figure for the region presents the share of each industry contribution into economy (in percent) and the degree of influence of every industry on regional economic development. The results of the research help to determine the degree of dependence of social and economic development of the region on each industry functioning of and impact of different factors on overall resulting indicators for the industry. Further analysis is required to build a model for potential of regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European policies aim at reducing as much as possible the economic disparities between both Member States and their regions, and it is desired to apply a sustainable development by using the structural and cohesion funds. In the current context where the economic crises are more frequent, arises the question if these funds are used effectively and fully. In Romania, the efficiency of using the EU funds is still debatable although there is a huge need for investments in all economic sectors. The present work highlights the importance of using the European funds for Romania in general, and for the development of its energy sector. The main objectives of this research are to present the current status of absorption of structural funds in Romania and to do a data analysis of the contracted projects per program and per development region at the beginning of 2014 using national data. Also, have been analyzed the 2007-2013 operational programs relevant for the energy field. Finally, this paper would present solutions for increasing the Romanian absorption rate and for encouraging the investments in energy which are so necessary in this country. The development of energy sector could be done with the help of the structural funds that is why must be used with relevance and integrally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]