CREATIVE ECONOMY IN RUSSIA: NEW STATISTICAL INDICATORS AND THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN THE FORMATION OF CREATIVE CLUSTERS

The article examines the dynamics of the development of Russia’s creative economy in 2021–2024 based on official statistics from Rosstat, and analyzes the role of higher education institutions in the formation of creative clusters as drivers of innovative growth. The relevance of the work is due to the accelerated growth of the creative sector. At the same time, special attention is paid to the role of the state as a key investor, which creates significant opportunities for universities to attract state support. The theoretical basis of the research is based on the synthesis of three conceptual areas: the theory of cultural and creative industries (D. Hezmondals), the theory of the creative class (R. Florida) and the theory of competitiveness (M. Porter). The paper shows how these approaches make it possible to understand cluster education in higher education as a process of integration of education, science and business. Based on the material of specific cases, successful cluster creation practices are demonstrated: the use of flexible management models, partnership with industry, project training, and the revitalization of urban spaces. In the final part, a four-block model of the development of creative clusters in universities is proposed: resource and infrastructure, organizational and managerial, educational and innovative, socio-economic blocks. The stages of implementation, from preparatory to scaling, are described, and their importance for strengthening the innovation potential of regions and training personnel for the creative economy is substantiated.