The author examines strategic priorities and establishes the competitive advantages of the Kuzbass region, which make it possible to increase the quality of life for the local people in the region, and at the same time to perform an efficient implementation of both regional and national interests located within the Kemerovo region. Using Dr. Vladimir L. Kvint’s theory of strategy and methodology of strategizing, the author analyzes the strategic framework and priorities of the region’s development through the year 2035 and beyond. The basic priorities which conform to the national and regional interests of the region, are a decent quality of life for the Kuzbass people, maintaining ecological, economic and financial security, diversification of the economy, maintenance of the life-sustaining water supply and drainage system, expansion and intensification of foreign economic relations as a result of the development of new industries in the region, as well as the transformation of the Kuzbass region into the transport center and hub of Siberia; the development of international cooperation and cross-border cultural and tourist links, transformation of educational and scientific potential of the region in accordance with its development priorities. In addition, the author studies the influence of digitalization as a global trend on the opportunities for the development of productive forces in the Kuzbass region.

In connection with the growing role of the regions in national socio-economic systems, the article puts forth the theoretical basis and methodology of strategizing for the development of both the private and public sectors of the region as a medial subsystem of the national economy. Essentially, the strategy of regional development is always of a socioeconomic nature and is designed to be focused on improving the material, spiritual and intellectual quality of life of the population. The development of all-encompassing regional umbrella strategies which, on the one hand, must implement the strategies of a higher political, economic or military stratum, and, on the other hand, have a significant impact on the formation of strategies for strategic objects of a lower level, is the most difficult practical task. The absence or weak substantiation of regional strategies, reduces the effectiveness of both national and corporate and municipal strategies. The expediency of analyzing opportunities and threats as it pertains to the internal environment of the strategized object, based on an OTSW analysis, versus a SWOT analysis, is proven. Creating conditions for the intellectual and emotional development of the individual, and his material well-being, is discussed as the main objective of all strategizing and its resulting transformations. The proposed methodology made it possible to discern and pursue the strategic priorities of the Kuzbass region, that have the most competitive advantages, to systematize and draw the contours of the priorities, to justify the investment capacity as it pertains to each priority, over long periods of time, and to assess their social and economic efficiency, mainly for the purposes of the regional public budget.

Development of regional situational centres in the Russian Federation is one of the priority trends of digitalization which leads the organization of state management to a new level. Integration of such centres into a unified system of distributed situational centers will allow performing monitoring of social, economic and ecological spheres both locally and in the whole country which increases the efficiency of state management. The main difference of the situational centres of the new generation is the development of analytical unit which exploits the opportunities of economic and mathematical and computer modeling of social processes in the systems for maintaining of management decisions. Modern systems for maintaining of management decisions are able to maintain search and visualization of data and can be used for estimating the consequences of implementation of management decisions planned. Thus, within the regional situational centre it is possible to create a polygon for approbating management decisions and choosing the most appropriate options. The authors introduce the concept of agent-oriented social ecological economical model as a digital analogue of the Kemerovo region. The model is assigned for making computer experiments on forecasting social-economic and ecological indexes of the region under different conditions of outer environment and during realization of different projects. The tool can be developed further on depending on the region’s specificity and the current tasks of the local authorities.

Decent life is the most important priority of civilized modern society. The authors apply to Dr. V.L. Kvint’s theory of strategy and methodology of strategizing to define global trends which affect creating of decent life in Kuzbass and determine strategic priorities for its improvement up to 2035.The major global trends are green workplaces and green economy, decent labour, digitalization, differentiation of income, non-standard forms of employment, online platforms, population aging. Strategic priorities that possess competitive advantages include centre of professional excellence, centre of the public high life quality, centre of decent labour and centre of green economy. Creation of the centre of professional excellence will include organization of centre for the educational and scientific excellence, centre for coaching and mentoring development, centre for remote development of the region, centre for lifelong advanced learning and centre for strategic leadership development. Creation of the centre of the public high life quality will include organization of centre for social services development in Kuzbass, centre for healthcare development, centre for development of the family, centre for culture development, centre for geriatric services, centre for active leisure and centre for development of sport. Creation of centre of decent labour in Kuzbass will include organization of centre for decent labour, centre for development of entrepreneurship, centre for secure and safe labour development, centre for development of new forms of employment and centre for career guidance development. Creation of centre of green economy will include organization of centre for green skills development and centre for green workplaces development in Kuzbass.

Preparing for the 300th anniversary of Kuzbass it is important to remember that coal mining has always been the basis of the region’s development, of building up a vast net of towns and cities, of the economic freedom of the region. Coal has always been and will forever remain the mineral wealth of Kuzbass. No other region of Russia enjoys it in such abundant concentration. Reasonable exploration of this resource, its mining and processing ensure the future development of the region, contributing to many other social, industrial and infrastructural projects. Simultaneously, the widespread demonization of coal has recently been increasing due to climate and environment changes interpreted and promoted by populist ecological movements. So coal mining and coal generation are blamed for all the environmental disasters on the Earth. At the same time coal as the main energy carrier occupies less place in the fuel and energy balance of Russia. Thus, strategizing of coal mining industry of Kuzbass as the leading coal region of the country is the acute problem both from the scientific and practical viewpoint. The way it is solved will determine the life and the vector of development of an important region of Russia. The article outlines the basic problems of development of coal industry, the trends affecting the current situation at the energy markets and the situation in the coal mining industry of Kuzbass.

Digital transformation of the economy is a global trend. Digitalization has become a strategic priority for most companies no matter which industry they belong to, which form of property they are and how specific their business is. The article presents strategic priorities of digital transformation of Kuzbass coal industry. These priorities are part of ‘Strategy for social and economic development of the Kemerovo region (Kuzbass) up to 2035 and for longer perspective’ developed under the guidance and according to methodology of Dr. V.L. Kvint. Strategic analysis of world leaders’ activity in mining industry has shown that the first step to digitalization is connected with changes in the strategic management system and creating a digital transformation centre. The authors define the levels of digitalization of a mining company: automated production, digital flow control, “smart production”. The basic strategic priorities of digitalization of coal industry of Kuzbass are automated dispatching systems, equipment reliability management, energy efficiency of production, robotization, digital modeling, industrial labour safety and security. Coal industry enterprises create their own way of digital transformation and determine the list of essential digital technologies by themselves. Kuzbass coal industry will become the largest regional individual buyer of innovations and technical decisions in the nearest perspective. Digital transformation of coal industry will help automate the industrial process, increase labour and equipment productivity, and raise the level of industrial and environmental security and the industry’s efficiency indexes, and improve the life quality of employees and people of Kuzbass.

Tourism is undoubtedly considered to be a strategic industry, especially in the countries with unique natural, cultural and historical resources. However, not very long ago the function of tourism in Russia was more of social character than of economic one. At present tourism is the largest intersectoral complex with a significant multiplicative effect. In order to strategize the tourist industry according to Dr. Vladimir L. Kvint’s methodology it is necessary to evaluate global, national and regional tendencies and consistent patterns, to make analysis of opportunities and threats and to concentrate on the priority trends of development of tourism. To be implemented the trends must be provided with competitive advantages. Kuzbass possesses unrealized potential in the development of niche types of tourism which include snowmobile, off road and industrial tourism. In the conditions of the current financial crisis it is a significant competitive advantage of the region which will make it possible to develop both intraregional and interregional tourism in this direction. Exhibition and fair activity is the most important tool of communication, a mechanism of promotion of new technologies and goods into foreign and domestic markets and a powerful driver of economy. Strategic interests both of the state and its key industrial region Kuzbass can also be realized by organizing international industrial fairs. The objective of the article is to ground the expediency of strategic development and to determine the priority directions for the development of tourism and exhibition and fair activity for the region’s economy in the post-crisis conditions.

The subject of the article is the strategic priorities of the environmental development of Kuzbass for the period until 2035. Priorities are identified at the global, national and regional levels, and possible directions for their solution. The aim of the study is to develop proposals for the Government of the Kemerovo Region and business to implement the selected environmental priorities for improving environmental quality in the region as part of the implementation of the Development Strategy of the Kemerovo Region-Kuzbass for the period until 2035 and a longer term. Ecological problems are considered in the main areas: air pollution, the quality of water bodies, the disposal of production and consumption wastes. The state of the negative impact on nature at global, national and regional levels is assessed. The environmental practice of the administration of the Kemerovo region is presented, including an analysis of the development strategy in the region. As part of the development of a new Kuzbass Development Strategy for the period until 2035, the priority “Decrease in the indicators of environmental pollution in Kuzbass” is highlighted. The essence of the priority is to create comfortable living conditions for the population of the Kemerovo region-Kuzbass on the basis of improving the quality of the environment. The directions of strategies for reducing environmental pollution in the Kemerovo region-Kuzbass are proposed. With a wide coverage of the priority areas of action, measures are highlighted that ensure the achievement of goals to improve air quality, the condition of water bodies and reduce the volume of waste generated, as well as the creation and development of the environmental engineering sub-sector. The estimation of total investment costs is given, which can be directed towards the implementation of tasks ensuring the achievement of the goals set by priority, and also the expected qualitative results from the implementation of proposals in the environmental sphere of Kuzbass are presented.

The authors explore efficient use of water resources as one of the strategic trends for development of the Kemerovo region which can be achieved by developing regional water supply and drainage systems. Thus, the purpose of the study is to define the major trends for long-term development strategies of water supply and drainage in Kuzbass which will take into account potential risks and strategic threats and which will be aimed at realization of strategic opportunities of the region. The study is based on Dr. V.L. Kvint’s theory of strategy and strategizing methodology. The authors analyze the original state of the regional water resources in dynamics, the structure of water use, global and regional trends which affect the global water resources (an increasing lack of water resources in the world, primarily), growing digitalization of water resources management systems, water supply and drainage systems, and they estimate their impact on Kuzbass water resources. The authors use the results of the analysis to determine the strategic trends for developing water supply and drainage in Kuzbass: creating strategic reserve of fresh water in Kuzbass, increasing reliability and energy efficiency of water supply and drainage system of Kuzbass, incorporating high technology into water supply and drainage system in Kuzbass, production of branded bottled drinking water in Kuzbass. Such strategic approach will provide for efficient use of water resources in the long-term perspective.

 Efficient water resources management is the most important environmental priority of Kuzbass development strategy up to 2035. The priority is aimed at providing people with high-quality fresh water, protecting water supply sources from pollution and maintaining strategic security of water sources. Secure natural water supply can be maintained by creating efficient water resources management framework in the region. The author establishes the tasks which are essential for the priority’s realization. The main ones include building up a unified system of management of Kuzbass surface water and groundwater, implementation of efficient system of monitoring the state of water resources, development of the regional renewable hydrogeological pattern which will allow making reasonable managerial decisions. It is suggested to accumulate the functions of controlling and managing the surface water and groundwater resources in one Centre under the Government of Kuzbass to fulfill the tasks stated. The system of monitoring water pollution must be the key function of strategic management. The author suggests a scheme of a unified net of monitoring water resources that will be the basis for operative and efficient management of this important life support area. Fulfillment of the tasks stated will provide the opportunity for systemic assessment of ecological damage to natural waters and for determining the areas demanding immediate attention and restoration. They should become the basis for developing measures and project decisions on water resources restoration and protection from pollution and rehabilitation of polluted areas. As a result of the priority’s realization people will be provided with fresh water which is the essential condition of the decent quality of life.

The authors use Kuzbass as the example to study strategic approach and methodology of choosing and implementing vanguard (perspective) physicochemical and biological technologies for water treatment plants. They also examine the requirements for purification and disinfection of drinking and waste waters under present conditions characterized by increased anthropogenic loads. These procedures should be carried out with controlling a number of new types of dangerous contaminants. Currently there is no provision for systematic analysis of their presence in water sources before and after their treatment. The authors study the interrelation between forecasting, strategizing, target programming, project management of planning and realization of the priority of implementation of vanguard physicochemical and biological technologies of vanguard physicochemical and biological technologies for water treatment at the water supply and drainage utilities. In the strategic study the authors adduce the overview of perspective trends of development of vanguard physicochemical and biological technologies and the examples of their technical realization which allow fulfilling the strategy’s priority under study within the set of priorities “Development strategy of life supply systems (water supply and water waste). Water utilities as “green economy” translators”. The article studies the levels of water quality control as well as common approaches to building regional water quality control centres and implementing online water quality control. The authors adduce the main competitive advantages that the Kemerovo region possesses to fulfill the priority. Strategizing of the implementation of vanguard physicochemical and biological technologies will provide the opportunity for realizing long-term (up to 15 years long) target programs in water supply and drainage areas in order to improve the performance of water industry.

The authors apply to Dr. Vladimir L. Kvint’s theory of strategy and methodology and study the problem of food security which is the most important issue in creating strategic documents. The relevance of the study lies in the significance of food security for maintaining high quality of people’s life and health. Moreover, establishing global food security and stability of food systems is a growing challenge at the international level, this issue is studied worldwide and is one of the objectives of the UN stable development. The authors define strategic global trends affecting food security. These include growing population, increasing prices for food and shocks of agricultural production, overexploitation of natural resources and climate changes. Analysing strategic tendencies and revealing trends and consistent patterns it is possible to discover a number of opportunities, existing and potential threats of the object of strategizing. So the authors have defined and analyzed strategic threats of Kuzbass food market, such as the region’s location in the risky farming area and unfavorable condition of the soil, degradation of the production capacity of the Kuzbass agricultural complex connected with disposal due to depreciation of fixed assets in the agricultural sector, high import dependence of Kuzbass agricultural complex that leads to growing transportation expenditures, increasing prices for imported goods and use of food additives for maintaining the appearance of food. After analyzing global tendencies and strategic threats the authors suggested practical recommendations to counter the threats for food security of Kuzbass.

The authors overview the issues of financing the realization of strategic priorities of Kuzbass development up to 2035 and for further perspective. Large-scale transformation of the regional economy requires significant financial resources while the capabilities of commercial banks are limited. So the main task of the article is to form an interrelated system of regional development institutions including that of the State Fund for Entrepreneurship Support of the Kemerovo region and the Fund for Strategic Investment Projects of Kuzbass, regional banks and the stock market which enable efficient redistribution of the required investment resources at all stages of the Strategy’s realization. It is suggested to develop the stock market by issuing infrastructure and commercial bonds at the Moscow stock exchange, by creating trading platforms in the regions or federal districts and by launching over-the-counter market in the Kemerovo region. The region can also support the regional issuers either by partial compensation of payments on corporate bonds or by regional development institutions’ guarantees on corporate bonds of Kuzbass enterprises. Such approach will allow attracting the funds of Kuzbass people and invest them within the region at a good rate. A crowd funding platform can become an additional tool for accumulating the funds. The authors explain the necessity of maintaining the integrity of priorities of financial system development and the interrelation of the strategies of the region, local authorities and businesses. Implementation of the concept of “clever specialization” will make it possible to choose strategic priorities reasonably, to contribute to the economy’s modernization and development of technology and fundamental research, to create new online platforms in cooperation with the scientific and educational centre of Kuzbass. The authors use Dr. V.L. Kvint’s methodology of strategizing in their work.

Governmental support in the formation of economic and intellectual potential of Kuzbass contributes to more comfortable conditions for development of business and improvement of life quality of the population. Strategic branding tools are an effective mechanism which allows building up long-term and trusting relationship with the local people and introducing certain values. The effect of external shocks including the COVID-19 pandemics on the functioning of social and economic spheres also reveal the necessity of their structural transformation and the need for raising digitalization level. The authors of the article suggest a number of strategic initiatives aimed at improving the business reputation of Kuzbass. Kuzbass Trading House can become a centre for promoting Russian hi-tech companies abroad, presenting investment projects. It also can act as an integrator of international engineering projects and a driver for technology transfer. As digitalization tends to spread wider and wider the authors suggest creating an electronic platform «KuzbassTrade» to improve the performance of Kuzbass Trading Centre and build the financial stability of the region. The platform will function as a virtual presentation of products, services and technologies of local representatives of corporate and scientific sectors. State institution «Agency for Investments Attraction and Protection» and leading higher educational institutions and research organizations of Kuzbass should strategically take direct part in creating a unified chain for determining innovative technologies to be implemented (including patent landscape and market niche analysis) and form investment package offers for building new manufactures and consortiums.