Vol 32, No 3 (2024): FORMATION OF A MULTIPOLAR WORLD

Formation of Russia’s ‘new logistics’ of foreign trade has logically led to new challenges. With longer routes and higher cost of transportation already being mitigated institutional hurdles such as carrier’s jurisdiction, limit of liability, and status have come to the front. When Western liner majors were in place these questions were more or less familiar to the majority of Russian foreign trade actors. In general carrier’s jurisdiction correlates with its place of registration. However, the situation has changed with logistics businesses floating into more friendly and convenient jurisdictions. For instance, all disputes with Danish MAERSK and Swiss MSC are to be resolved in English High Court of Justice in London. It is worth stressing that related information could be found on page 1 of the Bill of Lading in the ‘jurisdiction’ clause. Yet, after February 2022 with massive entrance of small and medium sea carriers from ‘friendly states’ onto the Russian market the range of jurisdiction applied has become wider. As of today, the most frequently met jurisdiction of carriers servicing Russia’s foreign trade is represented by Turkey, UAE, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Thus, Russian foreign trade actors have faced a dare concerning the process of carrier’s identification: is it a factual carrier or a freight-forwarder who has become a carrier under the carriage contract? The answer though is not easy to reach. To sum it up, the authors highlight these failing points and neatly picture them using real cases from the field.

The presence of multinational companies in Africa has brought more controversy among researchers and activists, with some proponents supporting them as economic contributors to the African continent, whereas other critics argue that multinational companies are corrupt, exploiters, tax evaders, imperialists, et cetera. Against this background, this study attempted to review literature relating to the dark practices of multinational companies in Africa with the aim of identifying the most dominant dark practices that spark controversies about multinational companies’ presence in Africa and then coming up with recommendations that would help African governments deal with and eradicate these dark practices. The findings of the overview indicate that the main negative practices of multinational companies are corruption and bribery, tax evasion and cheating, labour exploitation and imperialism. It is argued that multinational corporations have considerable potential economic power, which can contribute to the benefit of the host country. But it can also be abused if it is not well checked or limited by the host country. The study results show that the absence of strong legal frameworks and international accountability in African countries is the main reason why these dark practices have been mushrooming. It is strongly recommended that governments embrace multinational corporations in order to develop their countries and, at the same time, develop and implement strong strategic reforms, policies, legal frameworks, labour laws, and international accountability in order to curb and manage these impunities.

The focus of this research is the problem of insufficient elaboration of applied issues of world trade and international economic relations of neighboring countries. The study is aimed at determining the development potential of cross-border economic cooperation of the EAEU member countries and the guidelines for its growth. The methodological apparatus of the research covers methods of regression and correlation analysis, structural analysis and forecasting. The core of the empirical part of the study is a factor analysis of cross-border cooperation between countries within the EAEU, which is carried out based on statistics from the International Trade Center and WIPO for 2019-2021. A scientific search is being carried out for such a combination of innovation economy factors that would achieve the maximum share of the EAEU in the structure of Russia’s international trade. As a result, an econometric model was compiled of the dependence of the share of the EAEU in the structure of international trade of the member countries of this union on alternative management measures, which clarified the system of factors of cross-border cooperation of countries within the EAEU. The prospect is revealed and the author’s forecast for the development of cross-border cooperation between Russia and the EAEU member countries is compiled. The main conclusion is that innovation plays a decisive role in the development of cross-border cooperation: potential and growth guidelines in the EAEU. The theoretical significance of the results obtained and the conclusions based on them is due to the fact that they clarified the cause-and-effect relationships of cross-border cooperation between countries within the EAEU. The ineffectiveness of the customs approach to regulating international trade in the EAEU is substantiated due to the fact that a reduction in tariff rates does not lead to an increase in mutual trade in the union. As an alternative, a new approach to regulating international trade in the EAEU is proposed, which involves the development of an innovative economy. Of practical significance is the identified significant potential for the development of cross-border cooperation of countries within the EAEU, as well as the guidelines for the growth of mutual trade between Russia and the member countries of the union proposed for the most complete disclosure of this potential: increasing the high-tech level of exports by 52.03 % and imports by 998.90 %, growth in export activity of ICT services by 346.43 % and increase in patent activity by 164.55 %.

The relevance of the presented research is determined by the objective need to find ways to effectively develop the national economy in the prevailing geopolitical and economic conditions of the permanent pressure of the collective West on the Russian Federation in the context of the ongoing hybrid war against our country, including sanctions. When achieving the goal of effective development of the national economy in modern conditions, the minimum task is to win back the domestic market through import substitution, and the maximum task is to increase exports of not only raw materials, but also high-tech products as evidence not only of technological sovereignty, but also of the international competitiveness of domestic products. In this regard, it is of interest to consider the experience of developing export activities of other leading countries of the world, which predetermined the choice of the research topic. The purpose of the study is to analyze the dynamics of the development of French export activities during the transition to a post-industrial economy in the interests of taking into account both the positive experience and shortcomings in the implementation of this activity by one of the leading European countries in the development of export activities of the Russian Federation. The scientific novelty of the research is to identify a set of factors that influenced the dynamics of the development of France’s export activities during the transition to a post-industrial economy, as well as the tools used by the country to develop export activities, including in overcoming the crisis of the 2020s. The practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of using the obtained results of the analysis of the dynamics of the development of French export activity in the transition to postindustrial economy in the formation of the strategy for the development of export activity of the Russian Federation, including the rethinking of the high rates of deindustrialisation set in the last 30 years.

Currently, fish and fish products occupy an important place in the global food market. Recently, the global volumes of caught fish and artificially grown fish have almost equaled, and the latter is showing steady growth. This trend, in the context of the catch restriction policy pursued by environmental organizations, on the one hand, and population growth, on the other, is likely to continue for the long term. For many countries, fish plays an important role in solving the food problem. The demand for fish and fish products is growing in the member States of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which have sufficient potential for the development of fisheries based on the available resource potential and deepening interstate cooperation. One of the promising areas of integration cooperation within the framework of a coordinated agro-industrial policy is cooperation in the field of aquaculture. In the EAEU member states, the development of aquaculture is becoming one of the priority state tasks in the field of agro-industrial complex. At the same time, in order to increase such production, it is necessary to create appropriate conditions, form measures and mechanisms of state support, taking into account the projected results of its implementation. The article provides a general description of the production potential of aquaculture cultivation in the EAEU. The paper presents the activities of the Eurasian Aquaculture Alliance, an association aimed at supporting the development of aquaculture production; its cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Commission is considered. The most acute problems and promising areas of fish farming development in the Eurasian space are highlighted.

International cooperation is one of the most important and promising areas of activity of the state nuclear energy corporation ROSATOM (ROSATOM). The Corporation strives to become one of the international companies perceived as global technology leaders. Sanctions against the Russian economy are unprecedented. In the spring of 2023, sanctions were imposed by the United States against five organizations that are part of the ROSATOM. The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of sanctions on the international activities of the ROSATOM. The article provides a list of international markets where the ROSATOM operates in 2021-2022. The main competitors in the international markets of the Сorporation are identified: the natural uranium market, the uranium enrichment services market, the nuclear fuel fabrication market. An analysis of the position of the ROSATOM in selected segments of the global nuclear energy market in 2012-2022 was carried out. The main technical characteristics and sources of financing for the ROSATOM projects for the construction of nuclear power plants (NPPs) abroad are presented. The article uses materials from public annual reports of the ROSATOM for 2012-2022, as well as the Report on the State of the Global Nuclear Industry for 2022. Statistical methods were used to determine the share of the ROSATOM in segments of the global nuclear energy market; tabular and graphical methods were used to visualize the research results. In 2022, the ROSATOM was the leader in the world markets for uranium enrichment and conversion and had the largest portfolio of projects for the construction of nuclear power plants abroad. The main competitors of the ROSATOM in the international nuclear power plant construction market are China, France, South Korea, the USA and Japan. However, despite the successful activities of the ROSATOM, restrictions on access to Western technologies and finance create additional difficulties. In response to the imposed restrictions, the Corporation is actively developing domestic analogues and looking for ways to cooperate with countries that do not support sanctions.

The relevance of the scientific and practical problem solved in the article is due to the fact that the existing approach to managing the development of the fuel and energy complex in the regional economic systems of Russia, based on state regulation, does not fully ensure its sustainability, therefore it is advisable to activate the market mechanism. The purpose of the article is to develop an approach to corporate management of sustainable development of the fuel and energy complex of a regional economic system based on digital technologies. To do this, based on statistics for the regions of Russia in 2022, an econometric model for managing the sustainable development of the fuel and energy complex of the regional economic system based on digital technologies is compiled using the method of regression analysis. As a result, it was concluded that digital technologies largely determine the sustainability of the fuel and energy complex in Russian regional economic systems, but flexible use of these technologies is necessary, focusing on those that most and consistently support the sustainable development of the fuel and energy complex in the regions of Russia. For this purpose, an approach to corporate management of sustainable development of the fuel and energy complex of the regional economic system based on digital technologies has been developed. Features of the new approach are: 1) transition from public administration to corporate governance; 2) reliance on digital technologies in management; 3) flexible use of digital technologies in management, which involves the limited and careful use of controversial technologies (geographic information systems, Internet of things, cloud services and artificial intelligence) and the expansion of the use of key technologies that positively affect the sustainability of the fuel and energy complex in the regional economy of Russia: ERP systems, large data and digital platforms. The theoretical significance of the new scientific results obtained in the article and the author’s conclusions made is due to the fact that they outlined the range of priority digital technologies for the sustainable development of the fuel and energy complex, which included ERP systems, big data and digital platforms. The practical significance of the developed approach is that it will increase the flexibility and efficiency of managing the sustainable development of the fuel and energy complex of the regional economic system and most fully reveal the potential of this development in the regions of Russia by optimizing the use of digital technologies according to the author’s recommendations.

Scientific diplomacy is regarded as an effective tool for developing coordinated positions to overcome global challenges and reduce political tensions through the realization of three main purposes: “science in diplomacy”, “diplomacy for science”, and “science for diplomacy”. The author of the article proposes to expand the scope and consider scientific diplomacy as an effective tool for the development of the economy, the construction of “smart economy” in the BRICS+ countries. The article is aimed to demonstrate the connection of scientific diplomacy with the economy of the BRICS+ countries. For this purpose, key indicators of the economy, publication activity and international collaboration have been selected. The close relationship between scientific diplomacy and per capita GNI of the BRICS+ countries is shown based on quantitative analysis. The results obtained suggest a high potential of scientific diplomacy, which is not yet sufficiently used. BRICS countries with a high level of publication activity within the analyzed thematic areas of “smart” economy are less inclined to international collaboration than new BRICS+ members. The latter are narrowing the gap in publication activity more rapidly than the larger economies (China, India, Russia). With a smaller number of scientists, the “small” economies of the BRICS+ countries are rapidly increasing their scientific and technological potential in selected thematic areas through international collaboration, which is already affecting the economy, because there is a close relationship between GNI per capita, the number of publications and international collaboration. The article shows prospective thematic scientific directions for multilateral cooperation and possible threats to scientific diplomacy in connection with the expansion of BRICS+. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the disclosure of scientific diplomacy as an economic phenomenon capable of having a positive impact on the economy of a country.

Zambia is among the developing countries experiencing increasing poverty, declining productivity, and increasing dependence on raw materials such as copper, which is most affected by the volatility of global markets, and which has had a huge impact on the country’s level of economic prosperity. To address this problem, the Zambian Government has taken the path of promoting economic diversification, with agriculture being one of the most viable options due to its ability to create jobs, ensure food security and contribute to gross domestic product (GDP) by adding value and increasing output. The article examines the role that foreign direct investment in agriculture plays in the socio-economic development of Zambia. The identified competitive advantages prove that Zambia’s agricultural sector has significant investment potential, although the country does not have direct access to the sea. A study of incoming investment activity showed that tobacco production attracts the most investments to the country. A comparative analysis of the disadvantages and advantages of the Zambian agricultural sector conducted by the authors proves that the sector has the necessary elements of investment attractiveness.