The paper is devoted to appraisal of the contemporary processes that influence activities in monofunctional towns including those of the Irkutsk region. During the period of privatization the key enterprises of industrial settlements were transferred to large financial-production groups and reoriented their sales from domestic to external markets. But now the large corporations form the channels of crisis influence on the resource economy of Siberian regions and contribute to their instability. The case of a famous pulp and paper plant in the town of Baykalsk shows possible ways for diversification of town´s economy due to its location at the Lake Baykal shore and chance to develop a touristic center. The prevailing trends in our economy show the great probability of partial renationalization of the principal enterprises of industrial complexes. Their postcrisis development must include the restructuring for achieving a new level of productivity.