Development institutions are an important modern instrument of government regulation of the economy in all developed countries. The system of development institutions of the Russian Federation includes the federal and regional development institutions. Key federal development institutions include such well-known state corporations as the investment fund of the Russian Federation; the State Corporation "Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Activity (Vnesheconombank)"; the state corporation "Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies," etc. According to experts of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, about 200 regional development institutions operate on the territory of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The objectives of this extensive system of development institutions so far have been to overcome the so-called "market failures," which cannot be optimally realized by the market mechanisms, and to promote the sustained economic growth of a country or an individual region. In November 2020, the Government of the Russian Federation announced the reform of the system of development institutions in the country. The article analyzes the goals and main directions of the announced reform. On the example of the system of development institutions of the Far East, an attempt was made to assess its possible consequences.