Authors:

E.V. Balatsky, N.A. Ekimova

Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Abstract:

The article addresses the issue of regional disparities in social risks associated with mass robotization of Russia’s manufacturing analyzed within the framework of the national project “Means of Production and Automation.” The study aims to identify zones of heightened social vulnerability to technological unemployment. The research methodology draws on the authors’ algorithm for qualitative regional classification based on three criteria: the share of employment in manufacturing, the presence of an industry‑specific “technological core,” and the absorptive capacity of the service sector. The threshold values used to classify regions by these criteria were established empirically. The evidence base includes Rosstat statistics on sectoral employment for 2024 and regulatory documents issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. The calculation results revealed 26 highly vulnerable and 12 potentially vulnerable regions, predominantly concentrated in the European part of the country and the Urals, which poses a threat to the economic security of the Russian Federation. The paper substantiates the need to shift from a uniform to a differentiated regional policy and proposes the following measures to enhance Russia’s technological sovereignty: the early retraining of workers through digital certification, selective stimulation of economic growth in vulnerable regional zones, and the spatial redistribution of technological capacities towards the eastern part of the country. Institutional support of the above measures resides in modifying the portal of the Russian State Industry Information System (GISP) to incorporate regional coefficients and establishing an interagency council to coordinate regional financial quotas.

Keywords: robotization; labour market; technological unemployment; highly vulnerable regions; potentially vulnerable regions; socially stable regions.

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For citation: Balatsky E.V., Ekimova N.A. (2026). Robotization of the Russian economy: Delineating regional zones of social vulnerability. Upravlenets / The Manager, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 4–17. DOI: 10.29141/2218-5003-2026-17-2-1. EDN: AZYBFS.