The economy of the soviet Tuva: achievements, challenges and lessons

In the Soviet period (1944-1991), the economy of Tuva was rapidly developing. Massive state investment helped create enterprises and whole branches of industry, which in turn outlined the areas of economy Tuva could specialize in. Indicators of regional economic development were higher than the national average. The industrial infrastructure created over the period, including transport, power engineering and technologies, has been since used for several decades without major renovations. However, the smooth function of the regional economy could be guaranteed only under directive planning and stringent control over prices, flows of resources, goods and other assets of planned Socialist economy. Together with other specific features of its economy, this made the economy of the region highly volatile. A breakdown of both economic achievements of the Soviet Tuva and the problems it faced will help us learn the lessons to be accounted for while developing new long-term development programs. Although the programmatic documents adopted in early 2000s (such as the Strategy of social and economic development of the Republic of Tuva to the year 2020, passed in 2007) have not yet expired, the economic situation and the configuration of the main economic actors have seriously changed, which calls for a radical overhaul of the long-term strategy of social and economic development. Some problems which have been around since the Soviet times have grown more acute, while others were replaced by their opposites. The revenue section of the region’s consolidated budget, just as it was in the Soviet period, cannot fully provide the required social expenditures. At the same time, the majority of Soviet mechanisms of economic development are now totally dysfunctional, which calls for the use of new organizational and financial instruments. The article was based on the data from official statistical collections of the Republic of Tuva, and the information found in the proceedings of regional meetings and conferences on the various issues of Tuva’s social and economic development