The problem of the administrative, economic and social sustainability of a group consisting of neighboring regions with close ties has no clear solution yet. Should closely-tied regions in the long run form a centralized system of administrative bodies, compress their budgets into one, and construct unified social programs, or not? To answer this question, in the article we describe a case that represents the paramount form of cooperation amongst closely-tied regions. It is the case of the socalled multi-structured region, or “matreshka-style” region, where all the relationships culminated.

Analysis of the history and the present conditions of inter-regional cooperation, its areas and forms, in a unique multi-structured region of Russia, namely the Tyumen region 1, shows that such centralization has its limits, and instead of “rough” centralization, more sophisticated procedures (programmed forms of economic cooperation, legally introduced forms of administrative coordination, structured distribution of management functions, combination of partially connected inter-regional budgetary processes) should be elaborated to provide the sustainable development of closely-tied regions.