Geography and economy of the Kaliningrad region: limitations and prospects of development
- DOI
- 10.5922/2079-8555-2013-4-8
- Pages
- 81-94
Abstract
With its exclave status, the Kaliningrad region has been drawing attention of many researchers in different fields. Yet the prospects for cooperation between the region and neighbouring communities in Poland and Lithuania, which once constituted an integrated social, economic and political space, remain unclear. Media analysts and scholars alike tend to view the Kaliningrad region as “double periphery”, since it is excluded from major modernisation processes both in the European integration zone and in the Russian Federation. However, a detailed study involving polyscale socioeconomic indices, expert interviews, and surveys run contrary to this viewpoint. A look at the key indices of the Kaliningrad region and the neighbouring communities of Poland and Lithuania showed that both socioeconomic situation and standards of living are comparable in these areas, which indicates the prerequisites for mutually beneficial interregional cooperation. We have analysed factual information on socioeconomic development of cross-border regions and surveyed the students from the leading universities of Gdansk, Kaliningrad and Klaipeda. We were thus able to conclude that the reasons behind the delapidated cross-border relations are rather subjective and lie in the field of geopolitical orientation, information and institutional policy, as well as persistent stereotypes that shape public opinion. In this light, integration between the Kaliningrad region and mainland Russia is seen not only as an economic, but also as a sociocultural objective. An analysis of the stages of the region’s exclavisation, and policies of social support stemming from the uniqueness of the economic and geographical position of the region substantiate this conclusion.
Reference
1. Database of Indicators, 2013, Statistics Lithuania, available at: http://db1.stat.gov.lt/statbank/SelectTable/omrade0.asp?SubjectCode=S3&PLanguage=1&ShowNews=OFF (accessed 16 August 2013).
2. Local Data Bank, 2013, Central Statistical Office of Poland, available at: http://www.stat.gov.pl/bdlen/app/dane_podgrup.hier?p_id=945797&p_token=-1666235519 (accessed 16 August 2013).
3. Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average), 2013, World Bank Database, available at: http://search.worldbank.org/data?qterm=2263478 (accessed 16 August 2013).
4. PPP conversion factor, GDP (LCU per international $), 2013, World Bank Database, available at: http://search.worldbank.org/data?qterm=2263478 (accessed 16 August 2013).
5. PPP conversion factor, private consumption (LCU per international $), 2013, World Bank Database, available at: http://search.worldbank.org/data?qterm=1283456 (accessed 16 August 2013).
6. Private transport market stakeholders in the area of Rail Baltica, 2011, Warsawa, EU-CONSULT, Lappeenranta University of Technology.
7. Baza dannyh pokazatelej municipal'nyh obrazovanij [Indicators database municipalities], 2013, Federal'naja sluzhba gosudarstvennoj statistiki [Federal State Statistics Service], available at: http://www.gks.ru/dbscripts/munst/munst27/DBInet.cgi#1 (accessed 16 August 2013).
8. Trehovitskaya, Е., Kuzmina, M. 2013, Begstvo ili kooperacija [Flight or cooperation], Ekspert Severo-Zapad, no. 27—28 (625), available at: http://expert.ru/northwest/2013/28/begstvo-ili-kooperatsiya/ (accessed 12 August 2013).
9. Biznes eksklava poluchaet evropejskuju propisku [Business exclave receives European registration], 2013, Ekspert Severo-Zapad, no. 27—28 (625), available at: http://expert.ru/northwest/2013/28/biznes-eksklava-poluchaet-evropejskuyu-propisku/ (accessed 12 August 2013).
10. Biznes-ombudsmen o «probleme-2016»: nikto ot pravitel'stva oblasti nichego ne zhdjot [Business Ombudsman about the "2016 problem": one of the region's government expects nothing], 2013, Novyj Kaliningrad [New Kaliningrad], available at: http://www.newkaliningrad.ru/news/economy/2770914-biznesombudsmen-o-probleme 2016-nikto-ot-pravitelstva-oblasti-nichego-ne-zhdyet.html (accessed 12 October 2013).
11. V. Putin podpisal zakon o dopgarantijah rezidentam OEZ v Kaliningradskoj obl. [V. Putin signed a law on dopgarantiyah SEZ residents of the Kaliningrad region], 2013, 24 July, RBK- RosBiznesKonsalting [RBC], available at: http://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/20130724123754.shtml (accessed 12 August 2013).
12. Vinokurov, E.Yu. 2007, Teorija anklavov [Theory of Enclaves], Kaliningrad.
13. Gosudarstvennaja programma RF «Social'no-jekonomicheskoe razvitie Kaliningradskoj oblasti do 2020 goda» [Russian State program «Socio-economic development of the Kaliningrad Region 2020»], 2013, available at: minregion.ru (accessed 16 August 2013).
14. Zverev, Yu. M. 2010, The Kaliningrad region: the characteristics of the 2008—2009 economic crisis and possible ways of overcoming it, Balt. Reg., no. 2, p. 13—23. doi: 10.5922/2079-8555-2010-2-2.
15. Informacija o social'no-jekonomicheskom polozhenii Rossii. Janvar'-oktjabr' 2013 goda [Information on the socio-economic situation in Russia. January-October 2013], 2013, Federal'naja sluzhba gosudarstvennoj statistiki [Russian Federal State Statistics Service], available at: http://www.gks.ru/bgd/free/B13_00/IssWWW.exe/Stg/dk10/2-1-2.htm (accessed 12 October 2013).
16. Zubarevich, N. V. (ed.), 2013, Kaliningradskaja oblast' [Kaliningrad region]. In: Social'nyj atlas rossijskih regionov [Social Atlas of Russian Regions], available at: http://www.socpol.ru/atlas/portraits/kalgr.shtml (accessed 12 October 2013).
17. Klemeshev, A. P. 2009, Russian Exclave on the Baltic Sea: Evolution of Exclavity and Ways to Overcome It, Balt. Reg., no. 2, p. 86—97. doi: 10.5922/2079-8555-2009-2-11.
18. Lomakina, A. I. 2013, Social'no-ekonomicheskie aspekty primorskogo polozhenija kanadskoj provincii Kvebek [Socio-economic aspects of the seaside position Canadian province of Quebec], Izvestiya RAN. Seriya Geograficheskaya [Regional Research of Russia], no. 3, p. 14—25.
19. Melnik, D. A. 2012, O ponjatii mezhdunarodnogo transportnogo regiona [On the concept of international transport region], Vestnik Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, no. 1, p. 149—153.
20. Demidov, N. 2007, Na vostochnom fronte vremja peremen [On the eastern front in Transition], Ekspert Severo-Zapad, no. 39 (341), 22 October, available at: http://expert.ru/northwest/2007/39/prodazhi/ (accessed 12 August 2013).
21. O porjadke vyezda iz RF i v#ezda v RF FZ № 114 ot 15.08.1996 g. [On procedure of exit and entry to the Russian Federation Federal Law of the Russian Federation № 114 of 15.08.1996], 1996, Konsultant-Plus, available at: http://www.consultant.ru (accessed 12 August 2013).
22. O problemah realizacii prava na svobodu peredvizhenija v Kaliningradskoj oblasti. Special'nyj doklad [On the problems of realization of the right to freedom of movement in the Kaliningrad region. special Report], 2010, Upolnomochennyj po pravam cheloveka v Kaliningradskoj oblasti [Commissioner for Human Rights in the Kaliningrad region], available at: http://ombudsman39.ru (accessed 12 August 2013).
23. Ob osoboj ekonomicheskoj zone v Kaliningradskoj oblasti FZ № 13 ot 22.01.1996 g. [On the Special economic zone in the Kaliningrad Oblast. Federal Law no. 13-FZ from. 22.01.1996], 1996, available at: http://invest.h11.ru/law/doc00119.shtml (accessed 12 August 2013).
24. Orlov, S. V., Korneevets, V. S. 2012, Transportnyj klaster kak variant razvitija transportnogo kompleksa [A transport cluster as a variant of transport complex development], Vestnik Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, no. 1, p. 144—149.
25. Vylegzhanina, U. 2013, Otlozhennyj platezh [Deferred payment], Rossiyskaya gazeta, 08 October, available at: http://www.rg.ru/2013/10/08/reg-szfo/klaster.html (accessed 12 August 2013).
26. Kachevskaya, М. 2013, OEZ Kaliningradskoj oblasti: perspektivy vyzhivanija v novyh uslovijah [SEZ Kaliningrad region: prospects for survival in the new environment], Torgovo-promyshlennye vedomosti [Commerce and Industry News], 2 September, available at: http://www.tpp-inform.ru/economy_business/3806.html (accessed 12 August 2013).
27. O Federal'noj celevoj programme razvitija Kaliningradskoj oblasti na period do 2010 g. : Postanovlenie Pravitel’stva RF ot 07.12.2001 № 886 [Government Decree of 07.12.2001 № 886 "On the federal target program development of the Kaliningrad region for the period until 2010], 2010, Konsultant-Plus, available at: http://www.consultant.ru/ (accessed 12 August 2013).
28. Projects Rail Baltica and Via Baltica, 2013, Ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Latvia, available at: http://www.am.gov.lv/ru/eu/BalticSeaRegion/Projects/ (accessed 12 August 2013).
29. Regiony Rossii. Social'no-jekonomicheskie pokazateli 2012 [Regions of Russia. Socio-economic indicators in 2012], 2013, Federal'naja sluzhba gosudarstvennoj statistiki [Russian Federal State Statistics Service], Moscow, available at: http://www.gks.ru/bgd/regl/b12_14p/Main.htm (accessed 12 August 2013).
30. Rozhkov-Yuryevsky, Yu. D. 2013, Politiko-geograficheskie osobennosti razvitija Kaliningradskoj oblasti kak jeksklavnogo regiona Rossii [Political and geographical features of the development of the Kaliningrad region as a Russian exclave region], PhD Thesis, Kaliningrad, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University.
31. Smorodinskaya, N. V. 2001, Kaliningrad v uslovijah ob#edinenija Evropy: vyzov i otvet [Kaliningrad in terms of uniting Europe: challenge and response], Voprosy Economiki, no. 11, p. 106—127.
32. Soglashenie po voprosam svobodnyh (special'nyh, osobyh) jekonomicheskih zon na tamozhennoj territorii tamozhennogo sojuza i tamozhennoj procedury svobodnoj tamozhennoj zony [Agreement on free (special) economic zones in the customs territory of the customs union and the customs procedure of free customs zone], 2010, Saint Petersburg, 18 June, available at: http://base.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc;base=LAW;n=102087;fld=134;dst=4294967295;rnd=0.5919 090165309853 (accessed 12 August 2013).
33. Ryabushev, А. 2013, «Sosisochnyj shoping» negativno skazalsja na tovarooborote v Kaliningradskoj oblasti ["Sausage shopping" a negative impact on turnover in the Kaliningrad region], Nezavisimaya gazeta, 26 February, available at: http://www.ng.ru/news/424301.html (accessed 12 August 2013).
34. Tamozhennaja Sluzhba Pol'shi: itog dejatel'nosti pol'skih «benzovozov» v 2012 godu — 160 mln. lit-rov rossijskogo topliva [Customs Service of Poland: Polish total activity "oil tankers" in 2012 — 160 million liters moat Russian fuel], 2013, Gosudarstvennyj pogranichnyj komitet Respubliki Belarus [State Committees of the Republic of Belarus], 04 April, available at: http://gpk.gov.by/press_center/international_news/16895/ (accessed 12 August 2013).