Lithuania on the way to energy independence: an experience or a lesson?

The article considers the steps taken by Lithuania towards gaining energy independence in the interbellum and the Soviet periods. The author analyses the peculiarities of the republic's energy policy after achieving independence in the early 1990s and estimates the methods of diversifying energy supply in Lithuania

Nuclear power in the Baltic Sea region: the history of emergence and the political and economic features of its development

This article focuses on the development of peaceful nuclear power. The author draws attention to the fact that nuclear power is a rather young branch of national economy. However, over recent decades, it has already seen rises and falls, and a number of states have had tragic experiences of nuclear emergencies. Nevertheless, many countries — including the three Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — express a strong interest in development, generation, and application of nuclear power. In the Baltic States, nuclear power dates back to the Soviet times, but its development was suspended pursuant to the EU regulations (the Ignalina NPP). Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have been striving for energy independence from Russia — the principal supplier of energy carriers to these countries. For a long time, the three Baltic States have been proclaiming their unanimity on the general European path of development. However, the reality proved to be different. The touchstone for achieving common goals was the idea of constructing a new NPP at the site of the closed Ignalina NPP. The author concludes that the joint construction of a new NPP is quite questionable. When it comes to politics, each of the three Baltic States is ready to build its own NPP. Thus, the development of nuclear power in the Baltic Sea region requires joint coordinated actions independent of any bloc-inspired interests of the states involved. Moreover, this success may prove sustainable if the actions are based on innovative decisions and modern technologies

Human resources of post-war Lithuania and their role in the rebuilding of Klaipeda

This article focuses on the issues of post-WWII economic restoration effort in the Soviet Lithuania. German occupation of the republic caused significant damage to its industry and agriculture. Pre-war Lithuania was an agrarian state aspiring to embark on an industrial-agrarian path of development. After the war, this aspiration did not only persist, but was intensified. To reach this objective, however, Lithuania required qualified workforce. Before the war, hardly any attention was paid to the training of workers for industrial-scale production and construction. Then, a considerable decrease in population during the war aggravated the already substantial labour shortage. The attempts of the republic’s leadership to solve the problems of labour shortage through organised labour migration and labour mobilisation yielded no significant results. The appeals to the Centre with the request to send a substantial number of specialists and workers to Lithuania were heard, but a state ravaged by war did not have sufficient human resources. One of the solution was the use of labour of German prisoners of war. A network of prisoner-of-war camps was established in Lithuania. In a matter of two to three years, PWs completed a significant amount of work aimed at the rebuilding of important infrastructural objects. The case of Klaipeda is used to demonstrate the opportunities of the region and Centre in organising workforce in the Lithuanian SSR. The study uses the data obtained by modern historiography and documents kept in the Lithuanian State Central Archive

The “court cases” of General Ye. F. Kern

This article focuses on the battle career of the Russian general, Ye. F. Kern, who dedicated sixty years to the service of the country. General Kern participated in most wars and military campaigns the Russian state was involved in in the last quarter of the 18th-the first quarter of the 19th centuries. Despite being a contemporary and often a companion-in-arms to outstanding Russian public and military officers, he could not secure a dominant position on the military Areopagus. Moreover, in the post-war period his life was scarred by tragedies. In the Russian culture, he became notorious because of his wife. Over the last two centuries, Ye. F. Kern has been described as a “rude” and “ignorant” person destroying the aspirations of a young, courtly, and educated woman towards noble ideals and sublime feelings. This article considers the features of provincial military life in the light of its hardships and routine aggravated by the peculiarities of bureaucracy typical of Russian peripheral centres of the time. The case of Ye. F. Kern helps understand how a Russian general, despite the vicissitudes of fate — battle injuries, career hardships, family discord, and lack of stability — managed to remain true to the once chosen direction in life — service of the country

The historical aspects and current issues of the development of Russian-Lithuanian economic relations

This article focuses on development of Russian-Lithuanian economic ties. The research and practical significance of this study lies in the identification of the sources of modern Russian-Lithuanian economic cooperation and the prospects of future mutually beneficial economic relations. The first attempt at establishing economic relations was made in 1919. However, young Lithuanian Republic gravitated towards the West, severing ties with the Russian market. However, the initiatives of Lithuanian authorities did not result in successful state building, and the economic situation remained unchanged. The USSR leadership made an effort to improve the living conditions in post-war Lithuania. There were some mistakes made in the relations with the local population that resulted in Lithuanians’ resistance to sovietisation. However, in the conditions of post-war restoration of national economy and acute deficit of material and human resources, the Soviet leadership managed not only to reform and develop a socialistic economy in Lithuania but also to turn it into an industrial republic with developed agriculture and modern manufacturing facilities, whose major industries manufactured products used in nuclear and space technologies, aviation and navigation. The research shows that the post-Soviet period led to a dramatic change in Russian-Lithuanian economic relations; however, these relations retained potential for future development

The features of EU energy strategy in the Baltic region

This article analyses the issues of EU energy policy in the 1990s-the beginning of the 2000s in order to identify the features of energy supply and energy safety of the Baltic region countries. The research and practical significance of the work lies in the stepwise description of actions taken by EU leaders and EU member states in order to formulate a common European energy policy. The 2004 EU enlargement posed the problem of taking into account the features of energy supply of Eastern European countries and, especially, the Baltic States. The energy industries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as other Eastern European and CIS countries, are closely related to the energy industry of the Russian Federation. Trying to allow for this circumstance, EU leaders and energy structures took a number of organisational measures aimed, on the one hand, at an increase in energy independence of new members of the EU and, on the other hand, at taking into account the recent trends in the energy market development. The research shows that most of the initiatives do not take into account the perspective and interests of Russia, which has a strong presence in the energy market. The analysis conducted will help the assessment of prospects of further development of the Baltic States' energy industry and its interaction with that of the Russian Federation

Local Border Traffic as a Form of Visa Liberalisation and Territorial Development

This article addresses the issue of visa liberalisation between Russia and the European Union, which constitutes a key aspect of the parties’ diplomatic cooperation. This work sets out to identify the main results of Russia/EU cooperation. The authors have conducted a brief historical analysis of this area of relations. The visa “regionalisation” is considered in the context of identifying the key actors of the EU — Russia negotiations: the Kaliningrad region, Germany, Poland, and Lithuania. In their analysis, the authors rely mostly on primary sources: intergovernmental agreements on simplified border traffic, border-crossing statistics for the Kaliningrad region in the framework of the local border traffic, expert interviews, and related analytic reports. Specifically, local border traffic is viewed as the most effective form of interaction in the field of visa regime simplification and border territory development. An assessment of the positions of key negotiators shows that local border traffic between the Kaliningrad region of Russia and the Polish border voivodeships is a success, which stresses the need for a prompt transition to a visa-free regime with the EU

Economic and geographical structure of the Baltic Sea region

The Baltic Sea region is one of the most developed transnational regions. It comprises the coastal areas of Russia, Germany, and Poland and the entire territories of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. New spatial forms of international economic cooperation develop in the region. The region is not homogeneous in terms of socioeconomic development, thus there are certain differences in the areas and the intensity of international cooperation. The article sets out to identify structural characteristics of the Baltic Sea region. This requires studying practices of transnational and transboundary cooperation and possibilities for their adoption in other regions of the world. An important characteristic of the Baltic Sea region is a considerable difference between its coastal territories, the fact that affects the development of multilateral relations. This article examines the most pronounced socioeconomic differences that should be taken into account when forecasting cooperation trends in t he region, including those between the Baltic territories of Russia and their international partners

Geopolitical and geo-economic changes in the Baltic Sea region at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries

The article describes the process and results of the geopolitical and geoeconomic changes in the Baltic Sea region at the turn of the XX and XXI centuries. The authors assess the political, economic and military potential of individual countries and groups of countries. Ranking the selected countries and grouping them according to the similarity of their characteristics requires a variety of methods -the economic, statistical, cartographic, graphic-analytical methods, to name just a few. In the late 1980s- early 1990s, there were three socialist countries in the Baltic Sea region. They were signatories of the Warsaw Pact and members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (the Soviet Union, Poland and East Germany). The Baltic Sea region housed four market economies (Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Germany). Only two of them were members of NATO and the EU (Germany and Denmark). At present, there are eight EU countries in the region; six of them are NATO members (Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), and the same two countries, Sweden and Finland, remain outside the bloc. Russia, the legal successor of the USSR, is neither a NATO, nor an EU member. The authors explore similarities and differences between countries of the Baltic Sea region in terms of their territory, population, GDP, foreign trade turnover and the number of regular armed forces. The article stresses the importance of international cooperation in increasing the growth rates of economic development of all countries of the Baltic Sea region

The effect of railway network evolution on the Kaliningrad region's landscape environment

This article addresses methodology of modern landscape studies from the perspective of natural and man-made components of a territory. Railway infrastructure is not only an important system-building element of economic and settlement patterns; it also affects cultural landscapes. The study of cartographic materials and historiography made it possible to identify the main stages of the development of the Kaliningrad railway network in terms of its territorial scope and to describe causes of the observed changes. Historically, changes in the political, economic, and military environment were key factors behind the development of the Kaliningrad railway network. Nature was less important. The existing Kaliningrad railway network is to a great degree the legacy of the earlier, pre-war times. Today, its primary function is to provide international cargo and passenger transportation. Two types of railway infrastructure are identified in the Kaliningrad region - modern (functioning) and relic (abandoned) ones. In the Kaliningrad region, the process of land reclamation of the railway system starts when the maintenance of railroads is discontinued, which is followed by the formation of primitive soils and emerging biocenoses enhanced by fill soils and artificial relief