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The article is devoted to the study of the current state of integration of the Union State in the context of the modern transformation of the world order. The article identifies the reasons for the rapprochement between Russia and Belarus which made it possible to create and develop the integration project. Despite the objective difficulties, the two states have been successfully developing joint economic projects for a long time. Special attention is paid to the identification of external factors affecting the development of the Union State. Since the creation of the Union State western countries have pursued a policy aimed at weakening the potential of the integration association. The article examines the last years of the Union State’s activity, reveals the impact of sanctions pressure on Russia and Belarus, and analyzes the steps taken by the leaders of the two countries to further develop the integration project.

The article summarizes and systematizes the causes and consequences of food loss and waste. The uncontrolled accumulation and inefficient management of loss and waste is a serious problem of food security in many countries. Moreover, the world annually loses or wastes about a third of food produced while natural resources are inefficiently used. A significant number of definitions and terms in the field of food loss and waste cause international inconsistency in management systems. So, systematization of terms and research methods for food loss and waste has been carried out. The review analyzes the stages of food supply chain, i.e. the production of agricultural raw materials, their collection, processing, transportation and consumption, where the largest loss and waste occur. Furthermore, environmental, social and other problems associated with the accumulation of loss and waste are considered. Prevention of food loss and waste has been shown to be a potential strategy to improve the balance of food supply and demand and is essential for improving food security while reducing environmental impact and providing economic benefits to various participants in the food supply chain. Separately, the actions taken by the Russian Federation in the field of waste management and reduction of food loss are considered. Attention is drawn to the fact that the difficulties in solving these problems are associated with insufficient progress in legislation and low funding of relevant research projects. Possible approaches for simulation and optimization of actions to support specific strategies to reduce loss and waste are considered, taking into account the following factors: improving the management of various inventories; developing a clear strategy for planning and allocating resources; forming the supply chain based on variability (uncertainty) of customer demand and supply. Knowledge comparison and integration, as well as optimization of food supply chain management are essential for development of strategies and decisions about where and how to focus efforts to most effectively ensure the reduction of loss and waste at each stage of food supply chain. The main decisions and practices for FLW prevention and management have been systematized.

The current state and research priorities in the field of using insects as foods and their components are examined. At present, entomophagy is practiced in Africa, South America and Asia. It is shown that the growing world population, which is increasingly limited in resources upon the rising demand for animal protein, has stimulated the interest to new food sources that can include insects as future alternative sources of animal protein. In the forming global model based on the growing share of renewable energy sources, entomophagy fits in as a renewable source of food energy. Over the last decade, the potential of edible insects as a new ingredient has been studied. It is noted that edible insects can be produced with less environmental impact compared to cattle. Insects have a huge potential at all life cycle stages as a source of nutritional and active substances and are a rich source of animal protein, contain essential amino acids, minerals (K, Na, Ca, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn and P), vitamins (В-group, А, D, Е, К and С) and unsaturated fatty acids. Assimilability of insect protein is 76–98%. Insect carbohydrates are represented mainly by chitin contained in a range from 2.7 mg to 49.8 mg/kg of fresh matter. There are data that different insect species can have immune stimulating, sugar reducing, antioxidant and anti-genotoxic activities, as well as the positive effect in cardiovascular and nervous disorders. In the western countries, different methods of insect processing were developed. The review summarizes advantages and risks of eating insects and legal practices of their consumption. Possible ways and strategies of stimulating edible insect consumption are analyzed taking into account that the majority of population in western countries reject the idea of eating insects. The review of performed studies notes the necessity to eliminate emotional and psychological barriers on the way of accepting edible insect consumption.

The article looks into the most important aspects of the world economy reindustrialization, examines strategies for reindustrialization of the USA, Canada, and Australia. The correlation between the world trend, namely the transition to the digital economy, and the process of reindustrialization within the framework of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is considered. On the basis of comparison and analysis of expert evaluations, statistical data by sectors of industrial production of the USA and Canada it is shown that the absolute advantage of Canada when carrying out the re-industrialization of the economy is skilled labor, specialists with secondary education. The study confirms the fact that amid the reindustrialization on the verge of the Fourth industrial revolution, the availability of skilled labor is a necessary condition for the competitiveness of the state. The Russian Federation faces the situation when conducting the re-industrialization is complicated by adverse international economic and political environment (policy of sanctions against Russia). It is revealed that for the Russian Federation the reindustrialization of the economy shall combine the active modernization of the existing production capacity, while shaping new industries on the basis of technologies of the sixth technology wave. The comparative analysis outlined that under the circumstances the drivers of the new industrialization should be science-based industries, with the latest technologies and the largest number of highly skilled personnel concentrating there.

The article describes key aspects of global energy issues, with an emphasis on energy security. The Russian Federation is to face three inter-related challenges: provide energy security, stimulate economic growth and protect the environment, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that will reduce the level of air pollution and contribute to the global improvement of the atmosphere. The author analyzes the status and prospects of world energy markets and the forecast of their development for the period up to 2050. As the main trend the development of smalldistributed generation is highlighted, primarily in developing countries. The article justifies the importance of energy efficiency increase in Russia. In our country per unit of GDP consumes two times more energy than the member countries of the IEA, but a noticeable improvement has not yet been achieved. Meanwhile, aging, and often obsolete infrastructure in the electricity and district heat is in urgent need of investment. Attracting investment in the modernization and improvement of energy efficiency can be provided with the following key measures: reducing the dependence of fuel and energy complex on equipment imports; the research of renewable energy sources (RES); development of the most cost-effective oil and gas reserves and the change in export strategy.

Abstract Use of the prediction technologies is one of the directions of the research work carried out both in Russia and abroad. Meat processing is accompanied by the complex physico-chemical, biochemical and mechanical processes. To predict the behavior of meat raw material during the technological processing, a complex of physico-technological and structural-mechanical indicators, which objectively reflects its quality, is used. Among these indicators are pH value, water binding and fat holding capacities, water activity, adhesiveness, viscosity, plasticity and so on. The paper demonstrates the influence of animal proteins (beef and pork) on the physico-chemical and functional properties before and after thermal treatment of minced meat made from meat raw material with different content of the connective and fat tissues. On the basis of the experimental data, the model (stochastic dependence) parameters linking the quantitative resultant and factor variables were obtained using the regression analysis, and the degree of the correlation with the experimental data was assessed. The maximum allowable levels of meat raw material replacement with animal proteins (beef and pork) were established by the methods of mathematical programming. Use of the information technologies will significantly reduce the costs of the experimental search and substantiation of the optimal level of replacement of meat raw material with animal proteins (beef, pork), and will also allow establishing a relationship of product quality indicators with quantity and quality of minced meat ingredients.