The article deals with current challenges for regional development and their impact as causes of threats to economic security. Economic security is seen as a complex multilevel system, the formation of which occurs at various levels of economy’s hierarchy: the state level, an economic sector, an industry (economic activity), a region, a business enterprise, a city, a town, a village, a local territorial community, a person. It is determined that a region’s internal and external environment is the key factor of its economic security. The assessment, which was carried out, enables to establish the following characteristics: structural imbalances, a gap between regional investing priorities and determined priorities, a break in the production chain, an asymmetry in technological development of regional industries, expansion of foreign companies on the domestic market, incompatibility between the system of institutions and the aims of social and economic development of regions.
The research paper describes the current challenges for regional development, such as deepening of regional differences in creating tensions in regional labour markets; intensification of migration processes; growing differences in the intensity of structural changes; reducing foreign investment; institutional and fiscal decentralization; growing problems in organizing and financing social services; deepening asymmetry in the development of cross-border infrastructure, which requires a system of protection against increasing threats to economic security.
A range of methodological approaches to assessing the level of economic security is generalized. A set of quantitative and qualitative indicators is suggested for evaluating the results of security assurance activities at all levels of the hierarchy: a region, a territorial community, a business enterprise, a person.
The priority areas of administrative activity designed to prevent threats to economic security are identified. Given the current challenges, these priority areas include: structural reform of the economy, an increasing backbone role of state-owned entrepreneurship, inter-regional and inter-municipal cooperation, modernization of social safety in terms of personal security, strengthening safety of entrepreneurship, reinforcement of security of local communities under conditions of political, administrative, financial, fiscal, economic and environmental decentralization.
The main characteristics of each area are pointed out. Further research studies are to be undertaken to empirically examine the results of these measures and identify barriers for institutional assurance of economic security.
Current challenges for regional development: threats to economic security