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In the Russian Federation, interregional cooperation is limited, which negatively affects regional development and contributes to growing regional disparities. The goal of this research is to gain better understanding for slow and inconsistent development of interregional relations in Russia. The main hypothesis is that the lack of proper coordination and communication between the federal and regional levels of government, between regions themselves, as well as between regional authorities and other stakeholders in regions’ development is one of the key problems that hampers development of interregional cooperation in contemporary Russia. Retrospective, statistical, and content analysis were used to test this hypothesis. The analysis of the federal policy toward regional development since 1990 has shown gradual increase in centralisation of authority. The regional policy stimulated interregional competition and dependence on federal investments and subsidies. Nevertheless, the study of strategic plans of Siberian regions shows that with proper coordination and communication between interested parties some of the problems inhibiting interregional cooperation can be resolved. Better coordination, in turn, requires improvement of the institutional infrastructure. The findings are relevant for policy makers and scholars in the field of regional development. Further research is needed concerning the most efficient forms of coordination institutions.

In the Russian Federation, interregional cooperation is limited, which negatively affects regional development and contributes to growing regional disparities. The goal of this research is to gain better understanding for slow and inconsistent development of interregional relations in Russia. The main hypothesis is that the lack of proper coordination and communication between the federal and regional levels of government, between regions themselves, as well as between regional authorities and other stakeholders in regions' development is one of the key problems that hampers development of interregional cooperation in contemporary Russia. Retrospective, statistical, and content analysis were used to test this hypothesis. The analysis of the federal policy toward regional development since 1990 has shown gradual increase in centralisation of authority. The regional policy stimulated interregional competition and dependence on federal investments and subsidies. Nevertheless, the study of strategic plans of Siberian regions shows that with proper coordination and communication between interested parties some of the problems inhibiting interregional cooperation can be resolved. Better coordination, in turn, requires improvement of the institutional infrastructure. The findings are relevant for policy makers and scholars in the field of regional development. Further research is needed concerning the most efficient forms of coordination institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores economic and political issues influencing relations between Russia and Turkey. Topics discussed include the revival of trade relations between the two nations following the industrialization of the Soviet Union under the administration of then Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin, the economic assistance extended by the Soviet government to Turkey, the way both nations pursued technological and industrial innovations, brief details about Soviet-Turkish relations from the First World War to the Cold War, and a comparison of the economic growth policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The paper discusses introduction of multiannual budgetary planning and transition to performance budgeting in the Russian Federation. The author describes some results, problems and the future of the reform. The paper highlights implementation of international experience in the process of the reform. Performance budget is applied in the practice of many countries (the United States, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Slovakia). The Russian Federation has also taken ideas of the new system of budget planning. In the middle of 2000s the Russian Government approved the Conception concerning the reform of budget process in the Russian Federation for the period 2004-2006. It was the start of the reform. However, more than 15 years after the beginning of the reforms the Russian budget legislation and practice are in the process of improving. Foreign and international achievements in the field of performance budgeting could be helpful for Russian budget law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amalgamations of municipalities take place in many countries, including Russia. One of the main reasons for this association is the possibility of solving the financial problems of small municipalities with its help, and increasing the efficiency of the use of budget resources. Does the amalgamation of municipalities achieve these goals? The foreign practice of several decades shows that not always after the merger budget funds begin to be spent more efficiently. Russian practice is not so long yet, but now analysis of budget data (for example, alignment of budgetary provision) shows that such conclusions can also be made in Russia. However, this requires a study of the financial security of the newly created municipalities for several years. The article studies such important areas as the financial reasons for the transformation of municipalities; financial support of merging municipalities from higher budgets in order to ensure all territories of municipalities that are included in the newly created municipality; financial and legal consequences of such an association, i.e. whether it is really effective, as was stated when deciding on the association; alignment of budgetary provision of municipalities. It is concluded that it is necessary to consolidate the principle of guaranteeing a municipality in Russian legislation at the federal level if it amalgamates with other municipal entities with financial support at a level not lower than that which it had before the merger. The study results can be used to improve Russian legislation regarding the financial support of municipalities in the process of combining them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the consideration of relations on providing financial support, the so called inter-budget transfers, to local budgets from other budgets of the budget system of the Russian Federation. The acceptance of the independence of local self-government with the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993 made it necessary to implement legal regulation of relations in the field of financial support to the activities of municipalities. The article describes the process of reforming the regulatory framework in the field of relations for the provision of inter-budget transfers to local budgets. The author conducts comparative analysis of inter-budgetary relations for providing financial support to municipalities with a number of European States (the Czech Republic, Poland, the Republic of Lithuania, and Slovakia) and also highlights similarities with Russian legal regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution deals with significant changes in regulation of cross-border taxation in Russia that have been introduced since 2014 mainly due to the impact of the governmental policy of deoffshorization aimed at fighting the offshore character of Russian economy. At the same time participation in the OECD BEPS Project also influenced the international tax landscape in Russia. The analysis of the key substantive and procedural rules that were introduced in the course of the international tax reform in Russia is the key goal of the article. The author covers controlled foreign companies rules, management test for corporate tax residence, beneficial ownership concept, automatic exchange of information and key changes in the tax treaty network. The author aims to show steps that were taken by Russia in its reform of international taxation in order to confirm the hypothesis that in cross-border taxation Russia uses the widespread mechanisms and soft law recommendations while going its own way and often setting its own versions of the main elements of the international taxation landscape. Another important issue under consideration is the balance between unilateral, bilateral and multilateral regulation of international taxation in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Espacios is the property of Talleres de Impresos Oma and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espacios is the property of Talleres de Impresos Oma and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Enthusiasm for Russia's Eurasian vocation has come at a time of uncertainty about the country's prospects for modernisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines British officials' and ministers' attitudes towards the Soviet Union's economy in the post‐Second World War era. In the nineteen‐fifties and early nineteen‐sixties, public and some expert commentary posited Soviet economic 'success' based on the country's increasingly rapid growth rate, its potential for consumerization, the promise of economic reform, and the Soviet state's emphasis on education, science and the application of computer technology. New evidence from British official archives, presented here, makes clear that Westminster and Whitehall were never persuaded of this view, and always believed that political meddling and microeconomic inefficiencies would ultimately restrain and undermine Soviet growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of the passport is one of the lesser researched questions in the history of post-Soviet countries. Our research is devoted to the consideration of the role of the passport institutions and associated documents of the Bolshevik government in Kazakhstan in the 1920s. Official pass documents, temporary identifications, and certificates of residence played the role of basic documents used in the passport system for Kazakhstan's Bolshevik government. Regional administrative bodies were tasked with the organization and supervision of the issue of these documents. Those organizations were special departments, pass offices, and local Soviet organizations. Although the Civil War of 1918–1920 contributed to the strengthening of the law enforcement agencies that controlled identity documents, during the period of the New Economic Policy, control of movement using such documents was far less stringent than it would be after 1928 and into the 1930s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of innovation development is determined by the strategic role that true innovations play in the development of the state and the formation of a healthy, competitive economy. The organization of massive industrial production—which applies advanced technological achievements and science-intensive knowledge to form an infrastructure for innovation—should be a key component of the government's strategic policy to develop the national economy. In Russia, the infrastructure for innovation is less developed than other industrialized countries. This article considers the consequences of this underdevelopment, and proposes several ways of financing basic and applied research on the basis of foreign precedent and domestic practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Keith Dear reviews the current state and future prospects of artificial intelligence (AI) research, development and application in Russia. He shows that the available socio-economic indicators suggest that, contrary to the Kremlin's aspirations, neither Russia's limited commercial software base, nor its not-dominant state-controlled tech R&D sectors are likely to be able to support Russia's AI ambitions. Across a range of measures – from its start-up ecosystem, supercomputing installations, electronics industry, once-great educational system, industrial base and business climate – the fundamentals on which AI R&D success would be built are weak and weakening in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the implications of a shift in the Iron Curtain countries toward marketing? How will they affect marketing functions and institutions? The author shows the weaknesses in the existing planned systems, and he charts the future of what may develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers social and economic challenges that Russia faces in the context of present-day global transformation. Key technological, economic, and social trends, which determine the contours of the post-crisis world, are analyzed. A long-term agenda for the country's development aimed at securing a new quality of economic growth is proposed.

How have Russia’s workers responded in the face of Russia’s current economic challenges? In this article we explore changes in Russian labor protest over time, through the boom and bust cycles of the Russian economy. Relying on independent Russian databases, we examine evidence of a significant increase in labor protest in recent years, which also reveals that, despite apparent changes in the prosperous 2000s, Russian labor relations and protest are returning to past patterns. The protests are often spontaneous and their likeliness to spread stems less from union support than from policies that impact workers and others as a single category, such as the Platon road-tax system and its impact on truckers. Russia’s truckers also illustrate the potential for economic protests to become politicized. In view of this potential, Russia’s leadership appears to be reinforcing past practices such as avoiding mass layoffs, but such steps may harm long-term economic growth, itself a cause of protest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collapse of the Soviet Union brought a series of economic reforms: privatization, increased foreign direct investment and weakened benefits. Correspondingly, some scholars expected trade unions to serve as a major contribution to the development of a democratic civil society that would serve as a Polanyian double movement to these disruptive reforms. However, Russia’s steelworkers have stood out as particularly weak and unwilling to strike due to their dependence on their employer for almost all aspects of their livelihoods. But is this lack of large, legally sanctioned and disruptive strikes truly evidence of worker quiescence and weak trade unions? Using an analysis of local newspaper accounts and archival documents to process-trace the interactions of workers, trade unions and management, this paper offers a counter-argument to the generalizations of past studies. Specifically, protests tend to be more frequent and extreme when there is union competition within a company and when foreign owners violate labour laws. Unions tend to engage in non-protest bargaining strategies when companies face bankruptcy or closure under domestic ownership. Because Russia was an early case of the rapid liberalization reforms that have been broadly recommended to developing and post-communist countries, a closer reading of on-the-ground conditions and protest aids in a broader understanding of the variation in backlash to global capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article asks what lessons the empirical case of institutional change in post-Soviet Russia yields for the recent research on ideas and institutions. Its main point is that in post-Soviet Russia a clash between imported foreground ideas and deep domestic background ideas led to an ideational division among the elite of the country that became a main obstacle to the provision of coherent economic reforms. This story stands in some contrast to much of the newer literature on ideas and institutions, which tends to see critical junctures as leading from one equilibrium to another. I argue that tensions between imported foreground ideas and deep domestic backgrounds are likely to occur in other cases of far-reaching processes of institutional change based on Western ideas but taking place beyond the realm of Western, industrialized countries. Therefore, I argue, some general lessons on the interplay between ideas and institutions might be drawn from this case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to the role of information context in the dynamics of consumption/savings decisions. The deviations from the traditional model of rational expectations are investigated, and the hypotheses of the «rational inattention» are tested. The basis for the study was a selection of news from the major Russian TV channels for 2006-2016. This news available to ordinary households in Russia was analyzed. News was defined as negative or positive with special program tools of sentiment analysis. It was found that increased uncertainty (the spread of positive and negative news) leads to the choice of consumption to the detriment of savings, which then reduces the investment base of the economy. The authors analyze the connection of the tonality of news and its changes with the real business cycle. The authors found that the information cycle with some lag correlated with the cycle in consumption/savings decisions in the Russian Federation. The authors conclude that the concept of rational inattention is more acceptable for this case. Based on the study, recommendations are offered for adjusting public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Edward Hunter Christie sheds light on the extent to which Russia’s economic trajectory may enable or constrain its military modernisation goals. It adds to existing research by using quantitative scenarios and counterfactual analyses of the state’s fiscal conditions under different assumed levels of ambition for defence procurement spending. This approach leads to a more evidence-based assessment of the policy preferences of the Russian leadership. It also provides an objective basis for evaluating Russia’s fiscal capacity to fulfil its ambitions in a mid-term perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the resourcing of scientific and technical activities in the Russian economy. We identified the influence of crisis phenomena of 2014-2015 on the state of scientific and technological potential, which manifested itself in the following: the outflow of highly skilled specialists abroad and the reduction in the number of personnel engaged in scientific research and development, which reduced the provision of scientific and technical potential with human resources; the decline in the number of advanced technologies used by Russian researchers and scientific organizations, due to increased tensions in the geopolitical situation affecting the trade relations of the countries; the increasing risk of lagging by the Russian science development from the rest of the world's scientific community; the reduction in the volume of financing of scientific and technical activities in real terms, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the economic cooperation and political disagreements between Russia and Turkey, focusing on the Putin–Erdogan (2003–2014) period. The analysis depends therefore on economic, socio-cultural, military and political dimensions of the relations between the two neighbouring countries. The article aims to contribute to efforts that try to comprehend the past, present, and future of Russian–Turkish relations. It can be mentioned that Russian–Turkish relations have both positive and negative aspects, and the crucial questions in this respect are: Will the pragmatism stimulated by economic expectations be sufficient to ignore political paradoxes? Are further political relations, such as strategic alliances and/or partnerships, possible between these two countries? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic Annals-XXI / Ekonomìčnij Časopis-XXI is the property of Institute of Society Transformation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

El artículo discurre sobre el capitalismo de cuates (crony capitalism) en el sistema política y las instituciones oficiales de Rusia. El autor comenta sobre la relación entre el capitalismo de cuates y la corrupción económica en el país y examina la influencia del comunismo durante el periodo soviético.

This article is devoted to the research of military and economic aspects of national security of the Russian Federation in the Arctic. The authors consider national riches as the country's main security object in the region. This work describes basic measures undertaken by Moscow over recent years to improve Russia's defense capabilities as well as main components of its economic policy in the Arctic. It also analyses positive and negative factors that could influence implementation of Russia's energy and infrastructure projects in the Arctic. Finally, in the context of the so-called "Russian pivot to the East" the authors assess prospects of Russian cooperation with Asia-Pacific nations (especially China, South Korea and Japan) in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several Eurasian markets are considered as potential global financial centers. The main objective of this article is to evaluate the two strong candidates, Russia and Turkey, based on short- and long-run diversification benefits they provide to global investors along with big four global finance centers (US, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore) in the world. To that respect, we investigate both price spillover and volatility spillover effects among global finance centers and the two strong Eurasian candidates. Our results suggest that Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) has more diversification benefits and is more resilient to risk transfers from other markets compared to Moskow Stock Exchange (MSE). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A number of problems and prospects of the formation of an effective russian economic policy are discussed. A number of proposals for its transformation towards the priorities of national interests in the context of globalization and the formation of the Russian economy as a structural component of the world economy have been formulated.

The article discusses the transformation of law and the legal system in Russia. It highlights the establishment of an independent legal system associated with the implementation of general rules that provides protection to the citizens. It also cites the relationship between procedural and substantive justice.

The article discusses the changes on the legal culture in Russia from an amorphous, corrupt, pre-modern system of procedure, structure and customary law to an independent, modern and westernized system. It features Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, who had criticized the new system in both his fiction and non-fiction literature. It also notes that Dostoevsky has convinced his readers on the defects of the new system to the reformed courts.

The article discusses aspects of the legal reforms in Russia which reflects on the proponents of the rule of law (ROL) to ensure the neutrality and uniformity of the application of law. It highlights the purpose of ROL to minimize state corruption, personal vendetta and help secure individual liberty. It also citrs the ideology of the rule of law in self-fulfilling prophecy.

A new form of competition in the modern economy is competition between global value chains. During the last 20 years Russia did not fit into these chains very well and those chains in which the country had relatively favourable positions were not very competitive. And in competitive chains Russia’s position was usually subordinate – as a result, Russian companies had a smaller share of added value there. Russia now has the chance to reconsider its role in the international division of labour. This relates in particular to cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The orientation towards the East is an opportunity to start building new value chains where Russia could play the role of a global integrator. The main question is: can we create a global sales market that would be an alternative to the one controlled by the so-called ‘developed countries’? Another option could be the formation of a regional cluster. The creation of the EEU provides an opportunity to build competitive value chains in some industries. But the main problem of Russia’s economic policy consists in merely declaring the goals and in substituting projecting for planning. This problem is most likely to affect the common economic space of the EEU. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We use weekly data from 79 Russian regions to measure the impact of economic shocks and proximity to war in Ukraine on social capital in Russian regions. We proxy social capital by the relative intensity of internet searches for the most salient dimensions of pro-social behavior such as 'donate blood', 'charity', 'adopt a child' etc. This measure of social capital is correlated with a survey-based measure of generalized social trust. Our search-based measure of social capital responds negatively to the spikes of inflation and positively to the intensity of the conflict in Ukraine (controlling for region and week fixed effects). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data collected by Forbes since the 1990s, I examine the emergence and survival of the super-wealthy in Russia over the past two decades and compare Russia's record to those of other countries. The major surge in the number of Russian billionaires came in the mid-2000s, mirroring the dynamic worldwide. While early billionaires were predominantly found in the oil, gas, metals, and banking sectors, the distribution has become more diverse, now including some in trade, real estate, chemicals, and information technology. Only a minority of today's Russian billionaires acquired significant assets in the privatization of the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Russia at the turn of the new millennium, the Putin regime introduced a system of state-private co-partnership with corporate private investors. We argue that this policy had the effect of reducing the likelihood that firm managers-investors would adopt suboptimal investment time horizons. The strategy also served to protect state subsidies to corporations and outside investment funds from expropriation. Using firm-level data that are published by the Russian Trading System stock exchange and the SKRIN database that spans 1998-2006, we test the success of this strategy during this formative era for the modern Russian corporation. We find that co-ownership played an important role in generating improved long-term performance, particularly in industries with high asset-specificity. We also show that the policy was most effective in industries in which firms tended to undertake large lump-sum investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS) are a cornerstone of the Deep and Comprehensive Free-Trade Areas (DCFTAs) negotiated between the European Union (EU) and Eastern European Neighborhood Countries (NCs) under the Eastern Partnership. These are expected to eliminate quotas as well as both tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, thus improving the existing export opportunities for food and feed products from Ukraine, Moldova, and South Caucasus countries. However, NCs face multifaceted challenges in meeting the stringent EU regulatory and administrative requirements in the SPS area. Domestically, in light of Soviet legacies (including a food safety system which deeply differed from WTO-compliant standards), approximation with EU SPS standards requires massive reforms and involve high costs for partner countries – to be borne not only by state authorities but also private businesses. Yet reforms to comply with EU demands are also closely intertwined with regional interdependencies and Russia’s bilateral and multilateral policies. The article scrutinizes the interplay between domestic preferences, EU demands for reform and Russia’s policies. It points to a complex and multifaceted relationship between engagement into a macro-level regional framework and shifting sectoral compliance patterns. The paper highlights disjunctures between sector-specific compliance processes with EU demands, on the one hand, and macro-level relations between these countries and the EU and Russia on the other. As the article argues, this is because external actors’ policies are filtered by domestic interests, preferences, and practices. Ultimately, these shape the adoption and application of external templates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Islamic finance signifies more than a projection of religious affiliation. The importance of Islamic finance is increasing in central Asia, both as a source of capital and as a form of post-colonial market-building. In central Asia, it is an important facet of the new phenomena of 'nation-branding' and a means of reinvigorating the economy. In identity politics, Islamic finance projects an attitude of religious tolerance allowing states in the region to reposition their geopolitical identity relative to the Islamic community. This creates a 'performance' of Islamic finance that facilitates the creation of legitimacy for the state. Adopting Islamic finance projects images of the state's religious tolerance and diversity without changing the underlying structures; it suggests an 'Islamicness' that is useful to the development and post-colonial goals of the state. As such, it creates opportunities for geopolitical alliances with Muslim countries. Economically, it appeals to rising financial-industrial elites seeking new investment-opportunities, which reduces pressure on the state to democratize. Meanwhile, in Russia, Islamic finance is an alternative source of capital for the sanctions-hit state and a useful identity marker with which to connect to the increasingly wary Caucuses and Commonwealth of Independent States countries, lending it a wider significance across Eurasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the security problem of the Korean Peninsula and the related Russia's policy, as well as identifying the major differences between the Korean policy of the USSR and Russia. The analysis is focused on the main factors that can affect Russia's position with regard to the Korean unification at the moment -- such as the "Ukrainian crisis," "sanction regime," "Russia's turn to the East" and realization of the Silk Road Economic Belt planned by China. Another part of the analysis is focused on such subjects as: possibilities to realize multilateral projects by Russia, South Korea, North Korea, and China; prospects for unification of Korea as well as the opportunities that Russia could gain therefrom. Besides, the article offers recommendations for the more active cooperation between Russia and South Korea. In general, activation of Russia's policy vis-à-vis North Korea is mostly of demonstrative nature. It shows intents, first, to demonstrate to the EU and U.S. that the policy designed to isolate Russia is insolvent, and second, to find a counterweight to balance the growing dependence on China. The announced economic projects most probably would not be realized or, if otherwise, will be done on the minimal, "advertising" scale. The full-scope of cooperation with South Korea would not be possible unless Korea is unified -- for example, in the form of North Korea's absorption by the South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with Russia's policies toward the Korean Peninsula in the post-Ukraine strategic environment. The article begins with the analysis of how Russia is drawing closer to China due to its ongoing confrontation with the West and the Ukraine crisis. The article then reviews three distinctive periods in Russian post-Cold War strategy toward the Koreas: the 1990s; the 2000s and the early 2010s; and 2014 onward. The author argues that Russia's current policies toward the Peninsula are being increasingly driven by anti-Americanism and the rising dependence on China. Russia's ties with the North are experiencing a renaissance, while the relations with the South have soured. Russia's growing deference to China's interests in East Asia will result in Moscow closely aligning with Beijing on the Korean Peninsula issues. In case of a North Korean contingency, this may lead to a Sino- Russian coordinated intervention in the North. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia's "turn to the East" was not only the reaction to the rift with the West, but a long-term policy started since the turn of the century. Northeast Asia is the gate for Russia to Asia and the Pacific while Korean Peninsula can be the key to Northeast Asia for Russia. Russia is a stakeholder in the unification issue, which is far from solution because of different concepts of the two parties. Moscow does not support pressure or sanctions, but the multilateral political process. In 2014-2015, the considerable upsurge in political contacts and economic interaction with North Korea took place. North Korea approves of Russia's strong anti-dominance stance in world affairs and would like to avoid overdependence on China. However, the discussed economic projects are yet to be materialized. Russia sees trilateral and multilateral projects with the participation of both Koreas as the most effective tool for a breakthrough in economic cooperation for prosperity in Korean Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]