Combining 'Vertical of Power' With 'Modernisation Breakthrough': A New Revival for the International Contacts of Russian Regions? (The Cases of Irkutsk Region and Republic of Buryatia)

Active involvement of foreign investors in the innovative development of Russian regions, especially in the Far East and in Siberia, was (and still is) one of the key priorities and resources for the president (prime minister) Medvedev’s “modernization breakthrough” project. This objective generally didn’t run counter to the role that subnational actors was supposed to play in the country’s international relations within “vertical of power”, which was under construction during 2000s. Federal government incentives for international cooperation at the regional level don’t necessarily lead to the subnational entities’ activism in this field. It is the interaction of numerous factors within vertically-structured resource-based economy and vertical power structure that can help us explain success (or lack of it) in international activities of a given region. A recentralization of the last ten years has given regions equal legal status in this field but huge differences evidently persist, for example, in regional power elites’ consolidation or in economic potential. This paper will focus on the cases of two neighboring regions, Irkutsk region and Republic of Buryatia. Surprisingly enough, the letter is proven to be more successful in seeking for international partners and foreign investors in spite of its apparently weak natural resources potential and owing to the regional elite consolidation. Irkutsk regional elites, both political and economic, used to be much more centre-oriented, conflict-prone and suspicious of newcomers at regional resource markets. These are the principal factors that prevent this region from making a breakthrough towards modernization.