Supporting agencies: The research is done as part of the state assignment (theme «Problems and Prospects of Territorial Development of Russia in the Conditions of its Unevenness and Global Instability» № 0148-2019-0008). The study’s field phase, including interviews, in Saint-Petersburg, Leningrad region and Moscow was completed with support of Kone Foundation Project «Northern Dimensions of European Union Actorness. – The Case of Finland and Russia». Mapping and geocoding of CBC Projects were supported by the Russian Academic Excellence Project at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University. The author also expresses gratitude to Stepan Barkov and Anastasia Malakhova – students of Moscow Pedagogical State University, who helped with collecting the data used in this study.