Prospects for the expansion of aviation communication in the context of the development of projects "Territories of advanced development" of the border south of the Far East

Zaitseva Irina Vladimirovna PhD in Economics Docent, the department of Economics, Saint Petersburg State University of Civil Aviation 196210, Russia, Sankt-Peterburg, g. Saint Petersburg, ul. Pilotov, 38, of. 536a irina_zay4@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The principle of maximizing opportunities and benefits is laid down in the economic system. The economic zones formed in the Far East in the form of "territories of advanced development" (TOP) are no exception ^[1]. This form of public-private partnership makes it possible to accelerate the pace of economic development of the region by attracting mixed investments. Investments make it possible to use the existing resource potential of territories, but maximizing the effect or increasing efficiency is possible if certain factors are taken into account. The presence of a developed transport infrastructure has a synergistic effect for businesses developing in the region - it is improving the quality of life of the population, increasing labor productivity, creating jobs, attracting investment, actively introducing innovative technologies, improving the reliability and safety of transportation. Agreements within the framework of some TOP involve the organization of transport infrastructure at the expense of investors, while others involve the formation of budgets at the expense of funds in accordance with the needs of private investors. The study of the territories where production, logistics and other sites are located allowed us to conclude about the full availability of road transport, in some cases in combination with rail, water (Belogorsk, Nadezhdenskaya, Petrochemical, Khabarovsk Krai, etc.). All the presented types of transport are focused on tonnage delivery raw materials, materials, finished products. The availability of air transport, which allows for high speed of movement, is not typical for all TOR.

The aviation infrastructure of border formations ^[2] that have the status of economic zones in accordance with No. 473-FZ "On Territories of Advanced Socio-Economic Development in the Russian Federation" dated December 29, 2014 is presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Provision of aviation infrastructure of border territories

the South of the Far East, which have the status of territories of advanced development

The list of airfields of border administrative and national formations of the south of the Far East is grouped: Khabarovsk Krai - Khabarovsk (New) class A, 2 airfields of class B, 11 airfields (landing pads) of class G, D, E; Primorsky Krai - Vladivostok (Knevichi) class A, 15 airfields of class (G, D, E); Amur region - Blagoveshchensk (Ignatievo) class B, 15 airfields (landing pads) class G, D, E.

Since the article considers the possibility of transforming the aviation transport network in order to use the full potential of investment attractiveness, the airfields and landing sites that are used in the analysis have certain characteristics. Thus, the paper assumes that airfields (landing pads) are necessary for the transportation of groups of passengers to production sites operating in the territories of advanced development. Transportation of people is possible on aircraft types with a capacity of up to 20 people (local transportation), these include AN-2, L-410, DHC 6-400, helicopters, etc. Accordingly, the presented landing sites correspond to category A, but it should also be noted here that not all the presented sites can accept aircraft types characteristic of this category, for example, the Bombak landing site after reconstruction in 2020 will be able to accept L-410 ^[3].

 At the same time, it is noted that landing sites in most cases are not provided with radio lighting equipment. Also, the study does not take into account heliports and landing pads operated by oil pumping stations.

Based on the conducted analytical research, it was determined that Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krai have one airfield each, receiving all types of aircraft and an extensive network of airfields and landing pads. The transport system of the Amur Region, on the territory of which 3 special economic zones are being implemented, includes 15 airfields, landing pads and one airfield, which, according to the Russian classification, belongs to class B. The Jewish Autonomous Region, due to geographical features and the smallest territory, does not have a single airfield, while the Amur-Khinganskaya TOR is being implemented on its territory with a planned investment volume of 13.6 billion rubles. ^[4].

The data presented in Table 1 allow us to note that the enterprises operating airfields to one degree or another belong to state authorities of various levels, with the exception of JSC AS Amur, which operates two landing sites located in the area of its own production of precious metals on the territory of the Ayano-Maysky district of the Khabarovsk Territory. It is also necessary to note the following: all the airfields presented above, except for class A, B, C and except for airfields partially or completely owned by the authorities, perform a social function, i.e. for the most part they support transport and sanitary communications. But 4 landing sites, the operator of which is an individual, perform an economic function, contributing to the acceleration of the logistics processes of the company's personnel.

The general layout of airfields and "Territories of advanced development" of border formations in the south of the Far East is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. General layout of airfields and "Territories of advanced development" of border formations of the south of the Far East

Assumptions. The scheme does not indicate all the sites of the TOP, but only those that are at a great distance from each other (within the framework of understanding the purpose of the study).

The airfields of Primorsky Krai shown in the diagram are located along the coast of the Sea of Japan, one is located near the border of the People's Republic of China (p / p Dalnerechensk) and two near the border of Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krai (p / p Agzu, p / p Vostok). The location of the TORS on the territory of Primorsky Krai is characterized by relative grouping, all the TORs are located in the southern part.

The distance of the Big Stone TOR from the nearest airport is 41 km (Vladivostok Airport). Investment activities in this territory are carried out by 19 residents with a total investment portfolio of 263.1 billion rubles, currently more than 58.5 billion rubles have been invested, 4,533 jobs have been created. ^[5]

Nadezhdinskaya TOR is located at a distance of 25 km from Vladivostok Airport, 66 residents are operating with an already realized investment volume of 13.1 billion rubles and 967 jobs created ^[6].

10 residents operate in the Mikhailovsky TOR, and according to data for 2018, the volume of private investments amounted to 72 billion rubles ^[7], the distance to the nearest airport is more than 90 km. (Vladivostok). Near the TOP, on the border with the Russian Federation in the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, a civil airport has been under construction since the end of 2017. It should also be noted that the airport is located near Suifenhe, which is the largest corridor from China to Russia ^[8]. Thus, there is no air communication in the territory that is an economic corridor with the PRC and belongs to the TOP (with the attraction of foreign investment).

The TOP "Petrochemical" is located on the territory of the Nakhodka city district with a realized investment volume of 600 billion rubles. ^[9]. The nearest airport to TORU is Vladivostok, 120 km away. The second most remote airfield "Preobrazhenie" by road is 240 km.

There are three TOP – "Khabarovsk", "Komsomolsk" and "Nikolaevsk" with a total investment of 60 billion rubles in the Khabarovsk Territory. All operating sites are located in proximity to transport hubs, including air networks.  

The Amuro-Khinganskaya TOR operates on the territory of the Jewish Autonomous Region. Residents have invested more than 1.8 billion rubles in the implementation of their projects, 151 workplaces have been created ^[10]. The transport system of the EAO is not balanced and includes only a road, railway, water network, while there is not a single airfield on the territory of the region. Despite the fact that the agreements imply the organization of the entire infrastructure at the expense of residents, the state can assist in the construction of an airfield to improve the logistics links not only of the TOP participants, but in general the socio-economic development of the region.

There are three territories of advanced development in the Amur region. The Priamurskaya TOR consists of two sites, the first in the area of the village of Rovnoye, the second in the area of the village of Berezovka. A feature of the sites is the participation of Chinese investors with a share of investments of more than 50%. The air logistics of this TOP is optimal, since the sites are located in close proximity to the Blagoveshchensk (Ignatievo) – Rovnoye airport - 24 km, the second site Berezovka – 49 km.

TOP "Belogorsk" is located near a major transport hub of the Far East, namely at the intersection of transport corridors: Transsib, federal highway "Amur", highway and railway Belogorsk-Blagoveshchensk, the nearest airfield - Blagoveshchensk Airport (Ignatievo) is located at a distance of 130 km. Currently, 9 residents are engaged in investment activities within the framework of the TOP, about 800 jobs have already been created, 200 more in the future, private investments exceed 5.5 billion rubles ^[11]. 

8 residents are active in Svobodny TOR, the total investment volume of projects already exceeds 1 trillion rubles, 4,700 jobs have been created ^[12]. The peculiarity of the TOP is that it includes two sites (Skovorodino and Svobodny), which are located in opposite parts of the region along the border with the PRC. The Svobodny site is located at a distance of 149 km from the nearest airfield - Blagoveshchensk Airport (Ignatievo), the distance from the Skovorodino site to the nearest Zeya airfield is 320 km, to Blagoveshchensk Airport (Ignatievo) is 639 km.

Table 2 shows the distances from the territories of advanced development to the nearest airfields or landing sites by road.

Table 2

The nearest distance between the airfield and the TOP sites

The study made it possible to identify the TOPS in which there is no air communication, this is the TOP located in the EAO; in the Amur region, the TOP "Belogorsk", Primorsky Krai – the TOP "Petrochemical", the TOP "Mikhailovsky" the trip to the nearest airfield will be more than 1 hour; the TOP "Free" - more than 3 hours; on the rest of the territories, the way to the airfield approximately takes 30-60 minutes by car. 

A large number of preferences that are provided to residents activate the investment attractiveness of the territories. The availability of transport infrastructure is the main condition for business development. As it was noted earlier, automobile, river/sea, railway transport operating in the territories carries out tonnage transportation, and the air network makes it possible to make transport communication more convenient for the transportation of passengers. In this regard, it is concluded that it is necessary to expand the aviation transport network by increasing the number of airfields. It is assumed that the airfields will be focused on providing services for the maintenance of irregular transportation of passengers and baggage for individual orders, business, personal purposes. The proposal is formulated for the following economic zones: EAO; Amur Region – Svobodny TOR, Belogorsk; Primorsky Krai – Mikhailovsky TOR (which is more related to the border location of a large trade corridor), Petrochemical TOR. Under the union, the expansion will allow achieving a systemic effect in the form of improving logistics for investors, management of resident enterprises, and labor resources. Currently, the aviation transport network of administrative and national education is focused on the provision of transport services to the population.