Vol 30, No 2 (2022): CHALLENGES OF EFFECTIVE GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IN THE POST-COVID ERA

According to the UN Sustainable Development Agenda which replaced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and includes components of social, economic, and environmental development, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy sources is the seventh global goal in the system of seventeen interrelated goals developed by the UNGA in 2015. The goal implies operation and development of environmentally friendly national energy systems that will contribute to socio-economic development. To assess the dynamics and development trends of global energy systems, the methods of their quantitative assessment become particularly relevant. In this aspect, the most important tool for assessing the sustainability of global energy is the energy trilemma index developed by WEC and «Oliver Wyman Group» consulting company. The index is a comprehensive assessment of the economic, social, and environmental components of the UN sustainable development program. It allows countries to be quantified by their ability to ensure energy security, energy equity and the environmental sustainability of national energy systems, considering socio-economic and political changes. The paper presents the main methodology for calculating the energy trilemma index and its role in assessing sustainable and safe energy. In 2021, there were changes in the methodology of calculating the index, so it became possible only to compare the dynamics of changes of key components. Based on the indicators of 2021, the main trends in the global energy system are presented. The mechanism of the index components’ influence on the formation of a country’s rating is illustrated. A special attention is given to the analysis of the indicators of energy trilemma index for the Republic of Armenia in 2021, considering the main challenges of the Armenian energy sector and the consequences of the Forty-Four Day War in 2020. The dynamics of main components of energy trilemma index of Armenia is shown through the analysis of the conjuncture and the main development trends of the country’s energy system. The practical significance of the index for shaping the state policy for the energy sector development is emphasized as well.

Rapid development of China’s internal nuclear market, together with its rise on the international arena and the declared transition to green economy, gave a crucial impetus to its aspirations to enter the international atomic market as a global exporter of nuclear technology. The aim of this article is to define the political and ideological foundations underpinning such an ambitious endeavor, as well as predict the related development in the short and mid-term perspective. The author utilizes both general scientific methods as well as statistical and comparative analysis to single out the directions of China’s nuclear market outreach, both regionally and globally. Pakistan, widely presented as a flagship example of China’s exporting its know-how in nuclear engineering, remains the only partner of a kind in the broader Asia-Pacific. This article demonstrates that Belt and Road Initiative (specifically, the Green Silk Road), out of all multiple formats, was arguably chosen by the Chinese government as the most suitable framework for expanding its influence in the nuclear domain and filling a certain gap which formed after Westinghouse and Areva (now Orano) got reorganised after encountering financial problems. At the same time, China’s bid for leadership in the sphere of nuclear technology is obstructed by some impediments. Among them are Russia’s dominance in breakthrough areas of nuclear engineering and Rosatom’s large market share, as well as lack of political will in some countries’ elites to build ties with China in this strategic realm, opting for competition instead.

The art market, like many other industries, has experienced a challenging and transformative period since early 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic has created new unforeseen needs for galleries and auction houses. Along with the challenges it presented, the crisis has also created many opportunities for restructuring and innovation in the industry as organizations have been forced to look for new ways of working because the traditional format has become unacceptable, and this has required new methods and technologies. The market, driven by external circumstances, moved online as businesses closed and events were canceled, and dealers were forced to rethink their business models to adapt to the new economic realities, which, for many, involved the deployment or significant intensification of digital strategies in to support sales and communications. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to determine the impact of innovative technologies on the world’s largest auction houses. To better understand the impact of innovative technologies on the financial performance of the auction houses Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips, econometric models were built to identify the presence or absence of a relationship between auction profits and such a qualitative factor as the format of the auctions. Based on the econometric analysis, it can be concluded that in the period 2019-2021, the importance of online auctions and, as a result, other technologies necessary to support their activities has increased. This growth is due to factors such as the forced transition to an online format due to security measures and the fight against COVID-19 and an increasing level of confidence on the part of market participants.

Russia and the Netherlands are crucial trading partners for each other and those countries have enduring trade history, during which there were both periods of “cooling” and “thawing” in trade and investment. Against the background of a global decline in trade and FDI flows, the issue of global production and global value chains (GVCs) cooperation, in particular Russian-Dutch cooperation, is becoming more relevant. Thus, this study aims to determine current trends and features of trade cooperation between Russia and the Netherlands using the decomposition of gross value added (VA) flows, since the analysis of trade in terms of GVCs allows one to more accurately determine the directions and structure of international trade. This issue becomes especially urgent in context of the international production fragmentation slowing down since GVCs, among other things, more accurately illustrate trade and production ties and the interdependence of the world’s economies. The article will consider the general characteristics of trade relations between Russia and the Netherlands in terms of gross trade indicators, determine the place of Russia and the Netherlands in the ranking of their trading partners, show the dynamics of trade and FDI, and also identify the main areas of cooperation between Russia and the Netherlands within the GVC framework with the help of sectoral analysis of VA trade. As a result of the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that Russia and the Netherlands, firstly, are involved to varying degrees in GVCs, secondly, they participate in opposite directions within GVC flows, which is why they do not equally benefit from participation in global production, thirdly, mutual trade within the framework of the GVC is “one-sided” and unbalanced, and, fourthly, the export and industrial production of the Netherlands relies on Russian intermediate goods in a bigger extent than Russian exporting industries relies on the Dutch once.

The aim of this study is to determine the prospects of the international transfer technologies in the Russian market. The sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU countries and the United States have led to a clear understanding of the danger of dependence on imports. In 2014, an import substitution program was launched by the Russian government, and it has already shown the positive results. Some industries showed the increasing the share of domestic products by 15-25% Nevertheless, simple import substitution can also have a negative impact on the enterprise. For example, it can decrease the productivity and the product quality. Not all enterprises can offer competitive products without imported components, technologies, and trained personnel, even for the domestic market. No doubt, the interests of domestic producers must be considered in the first place, but it is necessary to make sure that Russian products are also interesting for the foreign markets. That is why the government set the task of moving from the policy of simple import substitution to the policy of export-oriented import substitution. Russia should improve its performance in the export of non-resource goods. Unfortunately, simple localization can be quite risky for the economy. Russia should be more actively involved in international technology transfer. The article examines the weaknesses and strengths of the Russian innovation system, as well as the opportunities that open for Russian business and Swiss companies, that transforms innovative and patented technologies developed by Swiss universities and international research centers into global successful businesses.

The paper provides a comparative analysis of smart city rankings as a tool to assess the effectiveness of measures implemented by the city authorities to digitalize the urban economy. The genesis of the issue of ranking smart cities in the academic literature has been considered, and three international rankings have been selected for comparative analysis. Their comparison shows that those rankings, which are based on a wide selection of cities and statistical indicators, as well as assessments of experts and citizens, are the most effective in assessing the course towards smartization. It has been proven that, at the moment, the most representative is the rating IESE “Cities in Motion”, which, however, does not take into account the qualitative methods of assessing cities. This experience can be used by city and national authorities to implement policies to promote smart cities, including in Russia, where its “IQ index of cities” has been created.