The role of state and creation of a market economy in Russia

This paper examines the role of institutions in economic growth and the role of the institutions created by the Russian state in particular. The author stresses the finding that growth-supporting institutions vary according to the level of economic development in a country. In a post-industrial society, that Russia aspires to be, further economic development requires promotion of institutions securing e.g. property rights and economic freedom. Finally, based on these observations, the three development scenarios frequently discussed in the current Russian economic policy debates are analysed.modernisation; role of institutions; economic development; Russia

Environmental issues in russia

This review examines the literature available on the state of the environment and environmental protection in the Russian Federation. As the largest country on Earth, rich in natural resources and biodiversity, Russia\u27s problems and policies have global consequences. Environmental quality and management are influenced by the legacy of Soviet economic planning and authoritarian governance, as well as by Russia\u27s post-Soviet economic recession and current strategies of economic development. Russia achieved a reduction in some pollutants owing to the collapse of industrial production in the 1990s, but many environmental indicators suggest growing degradation. Russia has signed on to a number of international environmental agreements, but its record on implementation is mixed, and it discourages environmental activism. Scholarship on the Russian environment is a limited, but growing, field, constrained by challenges of data availability, yet it offers great potential for testing scientific and social scientific hypotheses. ©2008 by Annual Reviews

Increasing territorial capitalization by incorporation of small enterprises into clusters

Modernization of the Russian national economy depends on small businesses and their involvement in capitalization of the territorial potential. This article discusses methods, models, and mechanisms of territorial capitalization based on incorporation of small business enterprises into clusters along with medium- and large businesses. We propose an optimization model for assessing the efficiency of such clusters: our research has shown that this model can be applied for decision-making in regional strategic planning. Methodologically, this study relies on the theories of industrial development and economic growth, the industrial cluster theory, and the works of Russian and international researchers on mechanisms of management of territorial potential, their establishment and implementation. Capitalization of the region's resource potential manifests itself in the form of static and dynamic effects. We developed models of interaction between small and other businesses and structures within a cluster oriented towards territorial capitalization. We demonstrated that incorporation of a university into a cluster structure increases the innovative capacity of all cluster members. This research may be further expanded to study the mechanisms of involving small businesses operating in peripheral areas into clusters

Dialectics of Efficient Change Management in the Regional Social Systems

The research has placed emphasis on the role of the social infrastructure sectors, providing social services, which facilitate human potential development in a modern state. Theoretical positions of the scientist considering the nature of social benefits and necessity of the government support for the social sphere has been summarized in the article. The state of the Russian social infrastructure sectors has been considered and the analysis of their performance compared to these of the social infrastructure sectors in other countries has been conducted in the research work. Taking into consideration the performance ratings of the effectiveness of the national education systems, the countries around the world concerning the effectiveness of the health system, the countries around the world concerning the social development level in 2014, the authors have proposed the conceptual approach that makes it possible to consider the correlation and interrelation of the level of the government financing of the social sphere and the dynamics of the contribution of social infrastructure sectors in the development of the human capital, ensuring the gross domestic product increase. The necessity of making innovative changes in the socio-economic systems of the social infrastructure sectors, to improve their performance, taking into account the results obtained, in the first place, in health care, has been wellgrounded and theoretical approaches to the changes management in the socio-economic systems has been studied in the article. The theoretical approaches to the changes management in the socio-economic systems have been studied by the authors. Based on the conducted studies and the formed theoretical basis for improving the level of changes management in open socio-economic systems, for the purpose of development of the theoretical and methodological approaches to changes management as applied to health care sphere, optimization model of management of health care organizations by way of ranking of manageable and unmanageable changes has been proposed. The possibility of using management optimization by way of ranking of manageable and unmanageable changes in the health care management at different levels has been confirmed with high-performance indicators at the micro-, meso- and macro levels in the sector, by the example of implementation of the national project “Health” and innovative organizational changes facilitating the return to work of patients of the working age, which are involved in the gross domestic product formation in the city of Yekaterinburg.The article has been prepared with the support of the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 14-18-00456 “Support of geoecosocioeconomic approach to development of strategic nature resources capacity of the low-studied northern territories within the investment project “Arctic — Central Asia”

Climate Change. Russia Country Paper

human development, climate change

Nuclear Energy Complexes: Prospects for Development and Cooperation

1. 2005–2006 was a critical period in the development of the nuclear complexes of Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan. These years have ushered in a “nuclear renaissance”. Russia’s nuclear sector was subject to a total systemic review; the Federal Target Program (FTP) allocated to it funds totaling more than USD 55 billion. A decision was taken to consolidate all nuclear assets within one state corporation. Kazakhstan implemented the “15000 tons uranium by 2010” state development program. Its development programs for reactors and nuclear power plants are worked out jointly with Russia. Closer cooperation is also being pursued with other leaders in the field, primarily Japanese companies. Cooperation agreements between the two countries were adopted. The foundation of three joint ventures (JV) was the first tangible outcome of above agreements. 2. Meanwhile Kazakh uranium has become a focus of attention and fierce competition between the world’s largest consumers, including France, Canada, USA, Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia. Early this decade, Russia’s substantial production capacity and highly competitive uranium ore conversion technologies added to calls for the country to renew its economic links with Kazakhstan in the uranium mining and nuclear industries. Given Russia’s ambitious plans to develop nuclear energy, and the fact that its uranium stocks are practically depleted, the benefits of closer cooperation with Kazakhstan are clear. However, Russia will have to compete with well-established players on Kazakhstan’s uranium market. 3. Kazakhstan has aspirations to become a world leader in uranium mining and to focus production at the highly processed end of the nuclear fuel cycle. This was the backdrop for a recent transaction which will have a significant impact on the country’s nuclear industry. In the autumn of 2007, KazAtomProm purchased Toshiba’s 10% share in Westinghouse Electrics, a leading producer of nuclear reactors, for USD 540 million. This transaction has secured a permanent nuclear alliance between KazAtomProm, Toshiba and Westinghouse Electrics. For Kazakhstan, this creates new opportunities to develop a hi-tech nuclear industry and to market its output in the West. Supplying high-end nuclear products to Western markets is one of KazAtomProm’s development priorities, along with continued cooperation with Russia in supplying Soviettype reactors. 4. The need to integrate the nuclear power complexes of Kazakhstan and Russia along the entire production chain is a logical response to their urgent need to reduce their energy deficit, and to the synergies which exist between their production capacities and technologies at each stage of the nuclear fuel production chain: (1) uranium mining, (2) uranium enrichment, (3) production of fuel pellets and fuel elements, (4) reactor design and production, primarily 300 MW VBER-300 power reactors, (5) construction and operation of nuclear power plants, and (6) nuclear waste processing and disposal. 5. Kazakhstan has plans to develop its own nuclear power industry and is likely to base this on 300 MW Russian-Kazakh reactors and, in the longer-term, 1000 MW Westinghouse reactors. 6. The development of this capital-intensive sector will require extensive financing based on credit from a number of sources. International and national development banks are one promising potential source of such funding. The ability to secure this capital from international and national development banks rests entirely upon the nuclear energy industry’s potential for development, innovation, diversification and integration. The Eurasian Development Bank, VEB (Russian Development Bank) and the Development Bank of Kazakhstan have indicated their recognition of this. E.g., the EDB has extended credit to the Russian-Kazakh Zarechnoye JV.nuclear industry, economic cooperation, economic development, Russia, Kazakhstan, Eurasian Economic Community, CIS

Russia-India relations: the significance of subjective factors

Sergei Lunev argues that Russia should pursue improved political and economic relations with India, despite the many setbacks in the partnership. This is the second of two posts examining parallels and bilateral relations between India and Russia. Click here for a post titled ‘Globalisation: Many Indias, many Russias’

Information Guide: Russia. March 2016

A guide to information sources on the Russian Federation, with hyperlinks to information within European Sources Online and on external websites (For other language versions of this record click on the original url