Associate Professor Maxim Gladkikh, Head of the VSU Project Office and Deputy Head of the Department of Science, Innovation, and Information Policy, together with his team entered the finals of the “Leaders of Russia” in the Central Federal District. Maxim entered the top 30 representatives of the Voronezh Region. In total, 1,681 applications were submitted to the competition.
Maxim Gladkikh’s team developed a project for the improvement of the social and economic development of four districts of the Voronezh region: Verkhnemamonsky, Kantemirovsky, Bogucharsky, and Petropavlovsky.
“The difficult situation in these districts is mainly caused by a significant lag in economic development. The districts have no large processing enterprises, and agriculture is mostly represented by crop farming. There is an outflow of residents, an ageing population, and low tax revenues, which complicates the situation in the region even more,” said Maxim Gladkikh.
Team members suggested restoring or supporting the production, creating high-paying jobs, training centres, as well as a transport and logistics cluster in the southern districts of the region, while also updating the Investment Strategy of the Voronezh Region. Among the solutions proposed by the team were the development of a feasibility report for the projects and placing them on the investment map of the region.
Alexander Gusev, Governor of the Voronezh Region, assessed the teams’ projects on Monday, 21 August.
“In general, there are some interesting solutions. Some of them are promising, some are a bit controversial, but we have several proposals that we can start implementing and using this experience in different districts,” said the Governor.
The finals among representatives of the Central Federal District will take place in December. The super final will be held in 2024.
Photos provided by Maxim Gladkikh
