Industry Differentiation and Integration Effects in the Border Regions of Russia and Belarus: Results of Cluster Analysis and Spatial Interpretation

The article presents an assessment of border situation impact on Russia and Belarus regions sectoral specialization based on an adapted cluster analysis methodology. The industry profiles of six border regions are compared - Bryansk, Smolensk, Pskov regions of the Russian Federation and Gomel, Mogilev, Vitebsk regions of the Belarus Republic. It is established that integration processes within the Union State form a partial differentiation of functions between regions, manifested in the development of mechanical engineering, chemical industry, logistics and resource processing. At the same time, geographical proximity to the border does not in itself determine the structure of specialization and requires institutional support, a well-developed infrastructure and programmatic support for cooperation. The directions of production and economic chains nodes localization of the Russian-Belarusian border region for optimal placement intermediate goods production are proposed, and spatial planning directions of cross-border clusters are proposed.