Current Issues of Development of the Third Sector of Social Services in the Far East (A Case Study of Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais)

The article examines the factors that determine the development of the sector of socially oriented nonprofit organizations (SO NPOs) in two regions of the Russian Far East: Khabarovsk and Primorsky krais. The empirical basis of the study was data from open sources, such as registries of social service providers, ratings of the development of NPOs in federal subjects of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the RAEX agency, as well as expert interviews conducted in 2022 with the heads and employees of NPOs in the cities of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. The results show that the main vector of development of the nonprofit sector of social services in the Russian Far East is aimed at activating its own resources and providing assistance to social groups that do not receive the necessary services in the public sector. The ongoing transformation of the third sector is largely related to structural changes in the regional administration, as well as with rotation of administrative personnel at the level of individual entities. It is noted that under these conditions, there has been a significant reduction in the range and volume of state support, which forces NPOs to seek alternative means to maintain sustainability. The prospects for the development of the nonprofit sector of social services are associated with the formation of a unified network of resource centers for NPOs and development of a roadmap for development of the sector, which involves eliminating local deficits in NPOs by extrapolating successful practices in working with businesses and volunteer associations, and creating of intrasector partnerships for social projects.