In the article the starting condition of applicating the new method of organization of the budgetary process - the budgeting focused on result is estimated. The importance of specification of the conceptual and methodical device of budgeting with reference to the public finance is underlined. It is conditioned by the fact that rich foreign and domestic practice of budgeting in commercial sector cannot be directly used for optimization of a trajectory of movement of state and municipal finances.

     Since 1991 the regime of the free (since 1996 - of the special) economic zone has been in effect in Kaliningrad region. The regime has considerably determined the economic development of the region. Before 1998 drastic recession had affected traditional industries as well as construction and agriculture and most of the service industries. But after 1998, as the Russian economy began to recover from the crisis and the Russian market started to expand, the aforementioned economic regime led to high rates of production growth and to the development of a new regional economy oriented at import substitution and servicing foreign economic relations. At present, when the region has turned into an enclave within the European Union, and the "zonal" mechanism is being questioned, a threat of new drastic breakage of the established economic structure emerges, followed by unavoidable negative social consequences. The ways of modernization of the regional economic mechanism based on the improvement of the law on the Special Economic Zone are analyzed in the article.

     Based on the data from a large-scale survey of enterprises a typology of companies strategic positioning has been built and the factors that affect sustainability of the strategic position have been determined. We have found that the superior strategic position (measured as a positive relationship between quality and unit costs of a firm) is based on intensive innovations and active transformation of the business environment of the firm. However, companies of all selected strategic types viewed the government economic policy as the factor that impedes their own development. The suggestions for improving the government industrial policy are formulated.

     The paper provides new survey evidence on effects of concentrated ownership upon investment and performance in Russian industrial enterprises. Authors trace major changes in their ownership profile, assess pace of post-privatization redistribution of shareholdings and provide evidence on ownership concentration in the Russian industry. The major econometric findings are that the first largest shareholding is negatively associated with the firm’s investment and performance but surprisingly the second largest shareholding is positively associated with them. Moreover, these relationships do not depend on identity of majority shareholders. These results are consistent with the assumption that the entrenched controlling owners are engaged in extracting "control premium" but sizable shareholdings accumulated by other blockholders may put brakes on their expropriating behavior and thus be conductive for efficiency enhancing. The most interesting topic for further more detailed analysis is formation, stability and roles of coalitions of large blockholders in the corporate sector of post-socialist countries.

     Continuing the discussion on industrial self-regulating organizations the author forwards new arguments for acceptance of special legislation on SRO in Russia, explores institutional principles as the base of that law. The draft law developed in the State Duma is analyzed through the prism of organizational borders of industrial self-regulation, social and economic guarantees of effective SRO evolution. Institutional nature of rules enforced by those organizations and variants of self-regulation are also considered.

     In the article the problems of formation, collection and accounting of ownership and mining rent are analyzed and the system of managing of mineral property and mineral products is studied. It is proved that the existence of normative costs on the unit (ton) of a mineral product (oil) for each oil-field will provide an objective valuation of oil-fields and let separate the value of rent in it taking into account the existing system of taxation. Characteristic features of economics of mineral enterprises are emphasized and it is stressed that only the state is able to act as an effective owner of oil-fields and mineral products providing their rational operating and optimal using.

     The model of mining rent institutionalizing on the basis of subsoil public property is described in the article. The effective forms of mining rent withdrawal and the scheme of its distribution within the state financial system are considered. An estimation of natural resource rent, particularly oil production rent, is made.

     The problems of formation of land-property relations in the cities of Russia are considered in the article. Potential social-economic effects of the use of land and necessary conditions for their realization are analysed. The opportunity of different losses for businessmen and investors, population and the urban system as a whole are shown. Special attention is paid to the questions of economic regulation of land relations. In particular the necessity of using the ground-rent theory in the sphere of valuation of urban land and the correction on this basis of the taxation system is justified. By means of statistic methods the relationships of indices characterizing the activity on the land and investment markets in the regional context are estimated.

     The second part of the "round table" held by "Voprosy Economiki" and devoted to urgency of Marx’s scientific heritage is presented in this issue of the journal. The discussion touches upon such questions as the necessity of reintegrating marxism in educational programs, unrecognized duality of Marx’s views, determinist approach in economics, interrelations of marxism and liberalism in contemporary economics. The publication also includes the presentations of the authors of criticized articles.
    The second part of the session consists of the presentations by Yu. Yakutin, Yu. Ol’sevich, G. Ruzavin, A. Buzgalin, A. Kolganov, L. Grebnev, V. Mau.