EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES NO. 4 - Eurasian challenges - Partnerships with Russia and other issues of the Post-Soviet era

Similarly to the previous numbers of the East European Studies series this volume provides the reader with an opportunity to have a closer insight into researches having been conducted recently on some post-Soviet issues in the Institute of World Economics, which, due to the restructuring process within the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS), now constitutes part of the Research Centre for Economic and Regional Studies of the HAS. As a tradition, the volume contains studies based on researches in our domestic or foreign partner institutions as well. Among the authors one can find both experienced researchers and junior research fellows since we find it very important to give an opportunity to young analysts to publish their first research results. Our themes vary widely. Four of the studies deal with relationships of individual countries with Russia; it is for this reason that we chose the title of the first block: “Russia as a partner.” In this part of the volume the reader may find analyses on the bilateral relationships of different EUmembers (such as Italy and six Central-East European states) and post- Soviet (for example the three Caucasian) countries from political, security or economic approaches. A study on the Ukrainian choice related to the country’s integration direction fits into this group of studies well. In the second part of the book, we publish two challenging studies that are a little set apart from this set of themes. The first deals with the understanding and practice of Public-Private Partnership in Ukraine, which is a key issue in present-day Ukrainian economy. The last article is a real curiosity, since it analyses the problem of the Aral Sea not in the widely used ecological point of view but from an economic approach. The first study written by Volodymyr Sidenko analyses a very timely topic of the past few years. Ukraine, located between the European Union and Russia, has been invited to join both the European Single Market through the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement concluded with the EU and the recently launched Russia-led Eurasian Community and its core element, the Customs Union. At the time being it seems that these two integration directions are mutually exclusive, so Ukraine is under pressure to make a very difficult decision. The study gives the pros and cons for both ways concluding that any of the two choices causes enormous harm to the other relation and to Ukraine itself. As a solution for Ukraine the author suggests the model of a Pan-European Economic Space, an intstitutional formation consisting of national and regional economic systems that are mutually compatible. An alternative model to this is a Pan-European Economic Space with two independent but interconnected centres (the European Union and the post-Soviet integration), a model the author calls a bipolar Europe model. A third solution is the concept of the 'multipolar big Europe' with a big number of regional and subregional unions participating in it. The second study written by Annamaria Kiss deals with relations between Russia and the three South Caucasian countries. Owing to potential political instability, insecurity, economic uncertainty and ethnic conflicts caused by a mutual mistrust of these nations (which are mutually correlated), the South Caucasus can be regarded as one of the world’s most vulnerable and unstable regions. Russia, as a most prominent actor in the region, can play an operative role in finding solutions. Naturally, these three bilateral relationships are of a different character, varying from a close partnership (Armenia) to a very hostile relationship (Georgia). The intent of the article is to present the main contradictions and features of the relations with Russia in the fields of security and economy. Marco Siddi’s article focuses on the Italian-Russian relationship embracing both the political and economic fields. Italy is one of Russia’s key economic partners in Europe while being among its most significant and influential ‘friends’ within the EU in a political sense as well. A long period of good political relations, which have not been affected by cabinet changes either in Rome or Moscow, has contributed to the consolidation of the partnership. The author argues that the hugely positive trend in economic relations based on very intensive energy relations and a close co-operation in other sectors is likely to continue. The study gives important details on Italian-Russian trade, investment and energy links highlighting most recent developments. The last study of the first block written by Zsuzsa Ludvig investigates trade relations between six Central East European (CEE) countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) and Russia focusing on the impact of economic crises on these links, with special regard to CEE export performances. The author argues that CEERussian bilateral trade links have been long specific due to historical and economic reasons resulting as a rule in deeper declines in trade volumes under economic crises compared to other, mostly more advanced economic partners of Russia. Moreover, besides common characteristics, individual CEE-Russian bilateral trade developments showed some specific features during the past two decades as well. However, these differentiations in trade links both among them and in a comparison to the economically more developed partners of Russia have been recently diminishing due to the growing presence and dominance of transnational companies in CEE exports. The fifth article deals with the more and more timely and fashionable theme of Public-Private Partnership (PPP), namely in Ukraine. PPP has become a popular and useful means of implementing public investment projects around the world. Governments have been using PPPs to realise huge investment projects like highways, power plants, hospitals and other fixed assets. The paper written by Ievgen Cherevykov provides a survey on PPP practice and implementation in Ukraine considering PPP as a socioeconomic institution. The study highlights Ukrainian peculiarities and shortcomings focusing on the institutional background. Finally, the volume ends with a very interesting but at the same time enjoyable study written by Alpar Szoke on the catastrophe of the Aral Sea. As a novelty the focus of Alpar Szoke’s article is given to the economic impacts of the environmental change in the Northern Aral region in Kazakhstan. The author argues that the Aral Sea region, and the Northern Aral Sea in particular is a perfect example that shows how negative externalities and mismanaged natural resources resulting in environmental catastrophe can turn a prosperous region into an infamous area hit by both an economic and a social crisis. After providing a brief overview of the drying out process and its practical economic consequences based on statistics the study presents not only the measures already taken in order to save the lake but their already visible results on the local economic and social life as well. The authors hope that they could provide the reader with interesting and valuable studies and could contribute to the understanding of some challenging issues, all of them related somehow to the colourful post- Soviet region. We offer this volume to both the academic, educational circles and the administrative sphere interested in post-Soviet studies.