The spread of the COVID-19 infection in Russia’s Baltic macro-region: internal differences
This article explores the spread of the Covid-19 infection in Russia’s Baltic macro-region. The monthly excess mortality rate in the Baltic region is analysed along with regional and municipal Covid-19 response acts to identify regional features affecting the spread of the disease. The spatial characteristics of Russia’s Baltic regions, germane to the propagation of Covid-19, were distinguished ...
The economy of Russian Baltic regions: development level and dynamics, structure and international trade partners
... (Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) in the context of the ongoing geopolitical and geo-economic changes. The article aims to assess the dynamics, level, structure and pace of economic development of three Russian regions located on the Baltic Sea (St. Petersburg, Leningrad and Kaliningrad regions) and analyse the intensity of their trade relations with countries of the macro-region. Russian Baltic regions have higher development rates compared to the national ...
The impact of the food embargo on consumer preferences and cross-border practices in the Kaliningrad region
The Russian food market has been a fascinating subject for researchers investigating food security risks and ways to mitigate them since the embargo was imposed in 2014. The Kaliningrad region, an exclave of Russia, responded more sensitively to the restrictions than any other territory of the country due to the heavy dependence of its food market on imported finished products and raw materials, as well as the transit from Russia via ...
International heritage in the memorial landscape of the Kaliningrad region
This article aims to analyse the structure of sites in the Kaliningrad region commemorating events, phenomena or figures of international history, as well as to reveal their symbolic significance. The study uses empirical data on the origin, time of construction and purpose of the monuments, memorials and other places of ...
Evaluating the efficiency of the research sector in Russian regions: a dynamic data envelopment analysis
... comparative efficiency evaluations. In recent years,
dynamic data envelopment analysis (DDEA), a variant of this method, has gained significant attention. This article applies dynamic analysis to evaluate the efficiency of the research sector in Russian regions. Traditional input variables such as the number of research staff and R&D expenditure are considered, while publication and patent metrics serve as output indicators. The analysis covers a substantial time period, spanning from 2009 to 2020. Notably,...
France’s strategy in the Baltic region: military and political aspects
This article examines the current military-political strategy of France in the Baltic region. This area has not traditionally been among the main priorities of French diplomacy. However, under President Emmanuel Macron, France pays closer attention to the Baltic Sea due to the growing tension between Russia and the West. According to France’s ...
Comparative analysis of the territorial support frame of settlement in coastal areas: the case of St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad regions
As a scientific method, comparative studies respond to the needs of society. However, the logic of globalisation has reduced the demand for comparative analysis in international and national (regional) studies. Nevertheless, old, settled coastal areas — which European urban science considers as evidence of the decisive effect of coastal position on spatial development and urbanisation — remain valid research objects. Achieving corresponding ...
Approaches to the Definition of the Baltic Sea Region
The Baltic Sea region is one of the most developed and well-formed regions of international cooperation. It is a place for promoting collaboration between businesses, non-profits, public authorities, and municipalities of the countries located on the Baltic Sea coast ...
Migration and the Transformation of Multiethnic Population Structure in the Kaliningrad Region of the Post-Soviet Era
This paper analyses the migration processes and their influence on the transformation of multiethnic population structure in the Kaliningrad region. The author uses official statistics (current statistics and census data), as well as interviews with the representatives of ethnic cultural associations as information sources. Special attention is paid to the migration features associated with ...
Societal security in the Baltic Sea Region: the Russian perspective
This study discusses whether the concept of societal security is embedded in the Russian formal and informal discourses as well as in the Russian strategic documents on national security and the Baltic Sea region. Particularly, the paper describes four paradigms of international relations (neorealism, neoliberalism, globalism and postpositivism) and theoretical approaches to the concept of societal security formulated in them. On a practical plane, Russia ...
Reputation core of Russian authorities: the case of the regional level of executive power
... the category of the ‘reputation of authorities’, reflecting the value-based attitude of citizens towards them. The article presents the results of research aimed at the analysis of the reputation of Russian authorities, with a special focus on the regional branch of executive power. The paper examines the reputation of Russian authorities of different levels and branches using the example of regional executive bodies. The author determines the structure and features of the reputation core of the ...
Demographic development processes in the history of the Kaliningrad region: national trends and regional specifics
This article aims to identify the main demographic development trends and features observed in the Kaliningrad region from a historical perspective and assess the extent to which the region’s demographic development corresponds to the national model accepted in contemporary historiography. The empirical sources used in this study include demographic statistics ...
EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region: Challenges and Perspectives of International Cooperation
This article describes the main characteristics of international cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) within the framework of the EU macroregional strategy. The analysis of the key directions, structure, and the Strategy implementation mechanisms demonstrates its experimental and innovative nature. At the same time, the authors identify problems ...
Trade Liberalisation and its Impact on Regional Development: Theoretical and Experimental Studies
... interconnections between international trade, trade liberalisation, and economic development provides ample evidence pertaining to nations and industries. However, another dimension of trade liberalisation — the assessment of the level of national or regional development — needs further research. This article sets out to analyse theoretical and empirical research works focusing on a varied spatial effect of expanding international trade on national economies and identifies factors affecting regional ...
Towards a Stable and Dynamic Economy in the Kaliningrad Region
The economy of the Kaliningrad exclave is not sufficiently stable and is heavily affected by external factors. This work aims to estimate the current economic situation in the region and explore possible ways to increase the stability of regional economy. The study employs economic statistical methods and identifies factors affecting regional development. The author analyses the dependence of the manufacturing industry on customs ...
Estonian ‘Balticness’ as a social construct: meanings and contextual specifics
This paper explores the Estonian vision of Baltic identity. Estonia’s authorities have repeatedly articulated their scepticism towards the concept of a stand-alone ‘Baltic region’ and the inclusion of Estonia in it, preferring to position their state as a Nordic country. Yet, in numerous cases, they have clearly labelled Estonia as a Baltic State. To identify the contexts and meanings labelling the country as a Baltic ...
Geography of international clusters in the Baltic region
International cluster is a relatively new form of spatial organisation of economy in the globalisation conditions, which has become a frequent phenomenon in European countries, including those of the Baltic region. It requires a comprehensive study of both regional economics and economic geography. This article aims to identify structured international clusters in the Baltic region and map the corresponding regions. The results obtained will make it possible ...
International positioning of the region: the image of the Kaliningrad region in the media space of the Baltic states
The issue of international positioning is crucial to all exclaves, and the Kaliningrad region surrounded by the Baltic region countries is no exception. This contribution aims to describe a general strategic path for positioning the Russian territory in question. To produce recommendations on a positioning concept, it looks at the ties ...
Geography and economy of the Kaliningrad region: limitations and prospects of development
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,...
Internet diffusion and interregional digital divide in Russia: trends, factors, and the influence of the pandemic
The demand for digital technologies has been growing due to a shift in the technological and economic paradigm. The need for online services has increased since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. There are significant disparities between Russian regions in the digital technology accessibility and the development of computer skills. In 2020, the Internet diffused rapidly in most regions, although previously, there had been a slowdown. As markets got saturated with digital services, the digital ...
The development of Kaliningrad regional economy: A new stage of restructuring
The Kaliningrad region is developing in complicated exclave conditions, which results in insufficient resilience of its economy to external impacts. There is a need for constant monitoring of the economic situation in the region and the adaptation of the regional strategy ...
Motors for regional development: impact on regional political organizations on the university cooperation in the Baltic Sea region
Educational co-operation is one of the main aspects of the regional political agenda in the Baltic Sea Region. The article analyzes the political impact of the organizations, as perceived by the universities in the region and political decision-makers on national and regional levels. Based on the success of the ...
The sea factor in the federal regulation of Russia’s spatial development: post-Soviet experience and current priorities
... project on Russian society and its spatial organisation, highlighting the problems of spatial socioeconomic development and its governmental regulation. This article examines the theoretical and applied aspects of the incorporation into the national regional policy of the sea factor, understood as a combination of location and resources, which is determined by a country’s jurisdiction over coasts and waters, its maritime activities and coastalisation potential, including the economic, settlement-related ...
The history of the integration between Russia’s Kaliningrad region and Poland’s northeastern voivodeships: A programme approach
This article considers the development of integration between Russia’s Kaliningrad region and Poland’s northeastern voivodeships in 1946—2016. The authors set out to identify the main results of Russian-Polish cross-border cooperation in the context of the changing historical and political paradigms in the Baltic region. The authors ...
Economic and Geographical Structure of the Baltic Sea region
The Baltic Sea region is one of the most developed transnational regions. It comprises the coastal areas of Russia, Germany, and Poland and the entire territories of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. New spatial forms of international economic ...
Russia and the European Union in the Baltic region: a treacherous path to partnership
This article examines policies of Moscow and Brussels in the Baltics since the launch of the European Union’s Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region in June 2009. An increase in the efficiency of Russia’s policy in the region requires not only the development of bilateral relations with the region’s countries but also a dialogue with the European Union, the key player in the Baltic. The ...
Small towns of Latvia: disparities in regional and urban development
... and ranking large-scale empirical data characterising the development of all small towns in Latvia, the authors attempt to identify the reasons for the disparity in the development rate of small towns in Latvia. The index of territorial development of regions, cities and rural settlements was developed and has been tested by the State Agency for Regional Development of Latvia since 2013. The data collected were then analysed taking into account the geographical location of small towns. The research ...
Reflections on the history of the Kaliningrad region
This article describes differences and contradictions in identifying the subject of Kaliningrad regional history. Some researchers and media interpret the term ‘Kaliningrad regional history’ as the history of the region per se and others as the whole scope of local history. The ‘History of West Russia: The Kaliningrad Region’, a secondary ...
Geopolitical and Geo-economic Changes in the Baltic Sea Region at the Turn of the XX—XXI centuries
The article describes the process and results of the geopolitical and geoeconomic changes in the Baltic Sea region at the turn of the XX and XXI centuries. The authors assess the political, economic and military potential of individual countries and groups of countries. Ranking the selected countries and grouping them according to the similarity of their characteristics ...
Saint Petersburg as a Global Coastal City: Positioning in the Baltic Region
The Baltic region consists of coastal areas of nine countries — Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. The region’s hubs are the port cities located along the Baltic Sea coast. However, Peter Taylor and Saskia Sassen’s ...
The assessment of research and technical potential in the framework of the innovative model of development of regional economy
This article considers the research and technological potential and the innovative activity in a specific region of Russia — the Kaliningrad region. The authors assess its research and technological potential, and the achieved level of innovative activity in the Kaliningrad region as prerequisites necessary for the implementation of an innovative model ...
Assessing spatial and temporal changes in the landscape vulnerability in the Kaliningrad region as an element of sustainable spatial planning
The relevance of applied regional studies aimed at solving problems of adapting the nature management and spatial planning system to the current conditions of natural landscape transformation is based on the widespread interest in this topic from Russian and international researchers....
Improving Human Resource Training Policy for the Balanced Economic and Demographic Development of the Kaliningrad Region
Balanced economic and demographic development is vital for ensuring the dynamic and proportional development of the regions. However, Russia as a whole and the exclave region of Kaliningrad as its integral part demonstrate significant disproportions between the need for human resources and their availability. This article aims to assess the balance between the components ...
Human Resource Efficiency as a Development Factor for the Kaliningrad Economy
Various studies of economic and geographical relations in Russian regions often overemphasise the role of economy. However, the quality and quantity of human resources is one of the key factors behind distribution and development of production. Human resources are of even more importance in the Kaliningrad exclave. ...
Commodity flow model for an exclave region: Rent-seeking in the ‘transitional period’ of the special economic zone
This article focuses on a commodity flow model for an exclave region (CFMER). The CFMER development is aimed at identifying aggregate proportions of the exclave’s economy in the transitional period of the special economic zone (SEZ) functioning. The key method of analysis is the comparison of data on the generation ...
Major infrastructure projects and the foreign policy of the Baltic states in 2010—2014
... economic nature. The projects to develop alternative power grids and high-speed railways can result in large-scale economic downturns diminishing the prospects of balanced social development. The author addresses the classical concepts of the theory of regional economy and new economic geography and their interpretation of the interconnection between political and economic factors. The article aims to demonstrate the inconsistency between political and economic objectives of the development of the Baltics....
A spatial study of networking in the Vistula Lagoon region using geoinformation systems
Network cooperation — the most efficient form of unlocking the economic and natural potential of territories — is rapidly developing in Russia under the influence of global processes. Due to its unique geopolitical position, the Kaliningrad region is one of the regions where such networks develop at both the regional and international levels. When studying such forms of cooperation, the traditional methods of social sciences as research tools are not sufficient, which is explained by the ...
Attractiveness of the Kaliningrad region: pull factors and reasons for disappointments of migrants from Russian regions
The Kaliningrad region’s attractiveness to migrants results in increasing external (international) and interregional migration. The interregional flow is a major contributor, accounting for approximately 60 per cent of the net migration gain. However, the age composition ...
Towards a classification of transboundary tourist and recreation mesoregions in the Baltic region
In the wake of the Covid-10 pandemic, the Baltic region saw a dramatic reduction in tourist flows in 2000—2021; the decrease was as much as tenfold in some destinations. This study aims to classify the 16 transboundary tourist and recreational mesoregions of the Baltic region according to 2019 tourist ...
The Role of Tourism in the Development of Russia’s Northwestern Border Regions
This article examines the development of tourism and recreation in the border regions of Russia’s North-West as a new promising area of regional growth. The unique natural, historical, and cultural resources, nature, and a favourable economic and geographical position are basic prerequisites for the development of tourism in ...
Changes in the cultural landscape of the Kaliningrad region’s periphery in the 19th/20th centuries
This article considers the development of cultural landscapes on the agricultural periphery of the Kaliningrad region. These territories are analysed in view of historical, geographical, social, economic, and political factors. Owing to its history, the Kaliningrad region boasts a unique combination of cultural landscape elements. Thus, the genesis and development ...
Twin cities: a new form of cross-border cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region?
The paper demonstrates the first attempt in Russian political studies to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the “twin city” movement as a form of cross-border cooperation in the Baltic region. This phenomenon emerged as a result of a global tendency towards more active involvement of municipal units in international cooperation, on the one hand, and aspirations of frontier cities and towns in the Baltic region to solve common problems ...