2010 Issue №1(3)

This article considers national energy security as a component of foreign policy and diplomacy and analyses the current state of Russian energy policy, the role of Russia in global energy geopolitics and the factors affecting it. The author examines energy diplomacy as an instrument of foreign policy at both global and regional levels taking into account the changes in the corporate policy of energy companies.

The article considers the IEA data on energy reserves in terms of global and national energy security. The authors describe methods for regulating the energy market in the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Community. The authors support the idea of applying the experience of the EU.

This article considers the problems of the environmental impact of energy. Further reduction of this impact on the global environment can be achieved two ways. The short-term one implies the increase in energy efficiency. In the next 15—20 years, the increase in efficiency should become a priority of the energy policy of all states. The long-term one is based on the gradual expansion of renewable energy. This method is aimed to avoid further economic and energy crises. At the same time, it has an important environmental aspect. Experts claim that the new area of global energy should be less costly than the traditional ones.

This article considers the problems of competition and cooperation in the field of energy in the Baltic region, first of all, those related to the export of Russian oil and oil products, the Nord Stream gas pipeline, and the construction of nuclear plants in Poland, the Kaliningrad region, Lithuania, and Belarus. The author shows that, though Russia and the EU occasionally pursue opposite goals, there is considerable interdependence between them, and a confrontation is disadvantageous for both parties.

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.

This article considers the key stages of Lithuanian energy evolution since 1990 and the factors that affected the strategy of Lithuanian energy sector development in the period of preparation and accession to the European Union. The author offers the estimations and general strategic recommendations regarding national energy policy, which were developed by the specialists of the Lithuanian Energy Institute.

This article analyses the current state of the power system of the Kaliningrad region and gives recommendations regarding the increase in energy efficiency. The author considers the prospects of its development taking into account the possible accession of the Baltic States to the UCTE.

The balanced power sector development in the Kaliningrad region requires an accurate estimation of the parameters of the main generation complex, the formation of a backup generation complex, and the efficient management of power sector.

This article offers the results of research conducted in the Kaliningrad region in the framework of the "Development of Russian Energy Sector: Social and Environmental Consequences and Prospects" network project by the Centre for Advanced Studies and Education. The authors assess the structure of regional energy sector and its influence on the economy according to key parameters. The article analyses the social effect of energy sector on the basis of a survey conducted for Kaliningrad.

The article evaluates negative externalities of the electricity industry and possibilities for the sustainable development. The concept of negative externalities of the electricity industry and evaluation and internalization of the negative externalities are reviewed from the viewpoint of principles of environmental economics and sustainable development.