ASSESSMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LEVEL OF SINGLE-INDUSTRY CITIES IN ARCTIC ZONE OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

Nowadays, the development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) is a strategic state policy not only due to the importance of strengthening Russia's geopolitical presence in the Arctic, but also due to the region’s role in ensuring sustainable development of the country. The region is rich in raw materials potential; climatic changes result in an increase of the country’s transit potential and opportunities for development of the Northern Sea Route; the Arctic is of great military and strategic importance. The study is topical since single-industry cities and settlement prevail in AZRF. So, the level of their socio-economic development will define the potential and dynamics of the region development. The article provides an analysis of the socioeconomic situation in single-industry cities in AZRF and a city ranking, dwells upon the main development issues, and justifies the state policy trends. The following methods were for the research: the economic-statistical method, economic analysis, methodology of the system analysis of socio-economic phenomena and processes. The analysis revealed great differentiation of AZRF single-industry cities by the level of socioeconomic development (the oscillation coefficient OC=114.9%). The Arctic singleindustry city development requires elaboration and implementation of special support tools taking into account the region’s peculiarities. The conclusions and recommendations of this study may be used by government authorities for preparing and justifying socio-economic development programs of single-industry cities in AZRF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]