Vol 34, No 2 (2026): REVISITING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS IN A MULTIPOLAR WORLD ON THE PATH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Persistent oil price volatility critically undermines Nigeria’s fiscal stability, distorting government expenditure, destabilising key macroeconomic indicators, and straining subsidy allocations. The impact of fuel subsidies and oil price shocks on macroeconomic stability is a critical policy issue in Nigeria. Hence, this study investigates the effects of fuel subsidies on macroeconomic indicators in Nigeria and the relationship between oil price shocks and the stability of these indicators. Using time series data from 1991 to 2023 obtained from the World Bank Development Indicators, the study employs Vector Autoregression (VAR), impulse response function analysis, and variance decomposition as the primary methods of estimation. The findings indicate that shocks to fuel subsidy outlays are associated with short-run inflationary pressures in Nigeria, leading to an upward trend. Additionally, fuel subsidy contributes to the depreciation of the exchange rate, although the impact is more indirect and occurs through associated shocks. Conversely, oil price shocks have a transient causal impact on inflation, generally leading to a decline. These shocks also negatively influence the exchange rate, contributing to its appreciation in the short term. Overall, the effects of oil price shocks on both inflation and exchange rate stability are diminishing over time. These findings suggest that while fuel subsidies contribute to inflationary pressures and currency depreciation, positive oil price shocks have a stabilising effect on inflation but lead to exchange rate appreciation in Nigeria. Policy makers should consider these dynamics when designing fiscal and monetary policies in Nigeria.

Russia’s digital ruble initiative, with mass implementation scheduled for 2026, constitutes a critical case study for examining central bank digital currency (CBDC) effects in economies facing sanctions-induced financial fragmentation. Existing research predominantly calibrates to advanced economy institutions, leaving gaps in understanding how CBDCs interact with concentrated banking markets, impaired monetary transmission, and restricted international payment access characterizing sanctioned emerging markets. Given these challenges, this research analyzes the macroeconomic implications of Russia’s digital ruble implementation under financial sanctions, deriving optimal CBDC remuneration policies that maximize household welfare while maintaining banking sector stability. The research employs a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model incorporating CBDC within a New Keynesian framework featuring monopolistically competitive banks and heterogeneous household adoption patterns, calibrated to Russian macroeconomic data (2014-2024) using Bayesian estimation with fourteen quarterly time series. The findings indicate that CBDC introduction generates welfare gains of 0.79% of steady-state consumption under optimal remuneration, amplifying to 1.26% under high sanctions intensity as CBDC provides alternative payment infrastructure and restores monetary policy effectiveness. The optimal digital ruble remuneration maintains a 70 basis point spread below the policy rate, balancing household adoption against banking disruption. CBDC enhances monetary policy transmission, improving deposit rate pass-through from 45 to 72% and reducing the sacrifice ratio from 1.63 to 1.44. However, our closed-economy specification likely overstates welfare benefits by 30-50%, as it abstracts from exchange rate volatility and capital flow dynamics that dominated Russia’s sanctions experience. This study contributes to understanding monetary innovation in sanctioned economies, offering practical guidance for emerging market central banks pursuing CBDC implementation under geopolitical pressure.

The purpose of the study is to analyze main trends in the media industry, taking into account historically formed stages of development. Global media giants have long been active participants in the global information space, involving in its formation and development. The agenda includes a fundamental change in technological processes and the development of innovative solutions that play a crucial role in shaping current political and economic events in the world. This study examines one of the segments of the media industry - video, which, according to the author, is crucial in shaping the media landscape and reflects the global dynamics of the entire industry. The research is based on the analysis of information from open sources and professionally oriented conferences, as well as analytical materials from research companies. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time it summarizes global trends in the development of the media industry, in particular its component, such as video content. As a result of the research, a hypothesis was formed about the paradox of the redistribution of cash flows between the production and consumption of content. The current disparity in profit distribution will lead to significant industry reform in the near future. The study period covers the time frame up to 2022.

One of the key characteristics of a market economy is the investment climate. The study focuses on the Central Asian region, which has undergone a significant geopolitical transformation over the past 30 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The analysis of the post-Soviet catch-up economies in Central Asia is of interest to modern economic thought due to the ongoing profound changes in the formation of a new international economic order. The methodology is driven by the significance of the investment climate, which is an interdisciplinary economic concept. The study provides an expert analysis of the variety of economic, political, and technological factors that shape the investment climate. With a high degree of certainty, we can state that the results of this study indicate the interdependence of the modern world, where sustainable development can only be based on the use of advanced technologies from developed economies and the natural resources of developing countries, provided that investment capital is attracted.

The research aims to develop scientifically grounded methodological proposals to facilitate Russia’s transition to a sustainable development path for the labor economy through the structuring of international relations in a multipolar world based on the institution of social partnership. To this end, the research examines statistical data from 15 dynamically developing countries whose share of high-technology exports is comparable to that of Russia in 2025 (from 5 to 21%). The collected data were processed using regression analysis, which made it possible to construct an economic-mathematical model of the impact of high-technology exports on the labor economy in 2025 and identify the key role of ICT employment in unlocking the potential for the sustainable development of the labor economy. The model served as the foundation for a new institutional approach to structuring international relations in a multipolar world, grounded in the institution of social partnership. The novelty of this approach lies in its reorientation of international relations away from stimulating the inflow of low-skilled foreign migrant labor and toward expanding high-technology exports. This shift would help overcome the institutional trap of foreign labor migration in contemporary Russia, manifested in the fact that, rather than addressing labor shortages in highly labor-intensive and low-paid occupations across various sectors of the Russian economy in the context of the Fifth Industrial Revolution, such migration constrains employment opportunities and the realization of the human potential of domestic workers, suppresses their labor incomes, and exacerbates the threat of brain drain. The theoretical significance of the proposed approach lies in its adaptation of the conceptual framework of corporate human resource management and state regulation of the labor market, within the sector of international relations, to the context of the Fifth Industrial Revolution, shifting the emphasis from attracting factors of production to expanding foreign trade in high-technology products. The practical significance of the applied approach is reflected in the fact that its implementation would place Russia’s labor economy on a trajectory of sustainable development, characterized by reduced unemployment among highly educated workers and a decrease in underutilized human resources within the labor economy.

The challenges associated with integration within BRICS have attracted considerable attention from scholars worldwide, including economists. Despite the growing body of research, many existing assessments remain largely conceptual and rely primarily on descriptive interpretations supported by current international statistics, while rigorous quantitative and mathematical approaches are employed far less frequently. The development and application of mathematical models for assessing the effectiveness of integration processes are therefore of particular importance, as they provide an evidence-based foundation for designing integration policies and identifying common strategic priorities capable of maximizing benefits for all member states.The purpose of this study is to develop a novel methodological framework and adapt established quantitative techniques for measuring the economic effects of integration, using BRICS as a case study. To achieve this objective, the research refines and applies a set of complementary analytical tools, including coordinate-based models for evaluating the bloc’s position and significance in the global economy, convergence analysis for assessing the degree of economic alignment among member states, and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods for examining how efficiently countries utilize their integration potential. The empirical findings reveal a number of structural challenges that continue to constrain deeper economic integration within BRICS and identify priority areas for their resolution. Model-based estimates indicate that the bloc’s strategic importance in the global economy has been increasing steadily. This trend reflects not only China’s expanding economic influence but also the growing contribution of BRICS as a whole, driven by the strengthening competitive position of its member states in international markets and the relative deceleration of economic growth in advanced economies. The proposed methodology, which combines an original approach to measuring the evolving global significance of integration blocs with DEA models adapted to evaluate the efficiency of integration potential and convergence techniques for assessing economic rapprochement among member states, provides a comprehensive framework for analysing regional integration. The results demonstrate that, despite the increasing global economic weight of BRICS, no clear evidence of sustained economic convergence among its member countries can yet be identified.

The number of economic theories proposed by Léon Walras, Joseph Schumpeter, Paul Samuelson, John Hicks, and Chicago School of Economics examined in the context of the commercial real estate market in Moscow and the Moscow region. Conformity of these theories to real data for dynamics of prices, supply, and demand for office spaces, warehouses, and shopping centers is in research focus. Special attention is given to the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in market development, as well as the interaction between market mechanisms and government regulation. The study offers a comprehensive approach to understanding current trends in the commercial real estate market, demonstrating how classical and contemporary economic concepts can be applied to analyze and forecast changes in this sector. It shows how different scientific theories of economists find empirical confirmation in various economic cycles of commercial real estate. This market segment demonstrates how changes in monetary policy, fluctuations in employment levels, and technological innovations interact with each other in the medium and long term, shaping the dynamics of prices and demand for real estate. It is shown that excessive government influence can have a negative impact on the commercial real estate market, disrupting the balance of the formed supply to the current market requirements, leading to an oversupply of the market with objects that do not fully meet the requirements of business and consumers.