History does not forgive oblivion

Authors: Panov V.N., Sarkisyan S.A.

The article is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Victory of Russian people in the Great Patriotic war. The geopolitical and geo-economic goals of the leading Western countries in the pre-war period as well as the causes of the Second World War and the tasks of Nazi Germany in
this war are revealed. Features of the ideology of Western expansionism and Russia’s eff orts to prevent a world war are shown. Particular attention is paid to the importance of criticizing the modern Western policy of Russophobia and attempts to distort the role of the Soviet Union in the
Second World War. The need to defend the historical truth that must be preserved and passed on to future generations of Russian citizens is emphasised. It is underlined that the own version of world and national history is an integral element of the state sovereignty of modern Russia.

Coronavirus: what is expecting Russian economy and foreign trade

Author: Obolensky V.P.

Estimates of the possible impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global and Russian economies, on world trade and foreign trade of Russia made by domestic and foreign think tanks, international economic organizations are presented. It is emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic threatens the global economy with a slide into a large-scale crisis that may be deeper than the 2008-2009 recession. Th e measures announced by the Russian government aimed at stopping the epidemic and supporting banks, enterprises and citizens are considered. It is shown
that before the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in China and the outbreak of the epidemic in Russia at the beginning of this year there were already obvious signs of the upcoming crisis in foreign trade. It is concluded that we should expect a serious drop in exports and foreign purchases
of various products, tourism and transportation services in the second and third quarters. Under these conditions, complex issues might arise hampering implementation of the national project for exports growth and provision of enterprises with imported raw materials, materials and
components as domestic production is not suffi cient to satisfy the needs of the Russian market.

SME support measures in the EU amid the ‘viral’ economy

Authors: Kareva A.O., Platonova I.N.

The authors look into the support packages for small and medium enterprises to fi nd the best practices and outline the programs aimed at improving the access to funds and investments. The goal of this research is to analyze the measures taken by the European Commission to support
SMEs. The authors cover in detail the programs helping to mobilize investments for innovative SMEs that develop technological solutions. The coronavirus outbreak has aff ected adversely the global economy and the EU economy in particular, and has precipitated the necessity to reconsider
the support measures for SMEs that are of paramount importance for the European economy.

Saudi Arabia’s economy under low oil prices

Author: Rudenko L.N.

The article examines the impact of lower global oil prices on the Saudi economy in the second half of the 2010s, as well as their plunge in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which has spread across a signifi cant number of countries in the world. Given the strong dependence of the kingdom on the production and black gold exports, the deterioration of the world oil market in 2015-2019 extremely adversely aff ected the Saudi economy, the growth slowed significantly in these years. The decline in oil revenues in 2020 once again reiterated the objective need for structural reforms in Saudi Arabia to drastically reduce the country’s dependence on oil. Therefore, the author pays special attention to the study of measures taken by the Saudi government in the framework of economic diversifi cation in 2010s, as well as prospects in this area in the coming years. Particular emphasis is made on the analysis of the activities of the kingdom leadership in stimulating the non-oil growth.

UNEP impact on growth strategy of Russian mining companies

Authors: Zvorykina Y.V., Savchenko V.S.

Paris agreement and the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) force mining companies to revise their strategy in more sustainable way and focus on decreasing carbon emissions. To compete in new global terms companies have to turn to more ecological production and in
some cases adept to declining demand for their goods and as the result to decreasing profi t and revising new projects. Right now, the spread of COVID-19 presents a good example of brave low carbon world, but for the most mining companies this turns into stress. How Russian companies
prepare to the new reality is considered in the article.

Digitalization impact on global civil aircraft MRO market growth

Author: Nikitenko A.A.

In the article, the author considers a new area in arranging maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of civil aircraft on the global market - widespread implementation of automatic digital information processing devices to improve reliability and quality of aircraft maintenance. Digitalization of receiving and processing digital signals from various sensors installed on civil aircraft , allows to recognize faults in the functioning of individual components and parts of the aircraft , to arrange for replacement or repair of instrument panel. Digitization of aircraft maintenance
improves fl ight safety and serves as an important factor in increasing their competitiveness in international trade.

International Monetary Fund: sanction potential

Author: Kudryashov V.V.

The West seeks to isolate Russia from the world system and the international fi nancial system, to undermine its political and economic positions in the world. Th e key mechanism for achieving these goals is the unilateral sanctions of Western countries against Russian individuals and
legal entities. However, the USA recently proposed expanding sanctions pressure on Russia by involving international institutions - the IMF, World Bank, OECD, and a number of international fi nancial regulators- in this process. In view of this, one can expect diversifi cation of the sanctions tools by including various financial, organizational and political mechanisms of international fi nancial organizations in the sanctions process against Russia. Understanding the sanction potential of international fi nancial organizations may help predict the potential international and fi nancial consequences of launching a global attack on Russia’s position in international fi nancial and other organizations. The article examines the sanctions potential of the International Monetary Fund.

Modifi cation of EU geo-economic strategy under glocalization

Author: Yeletsky A.N.

The article examines the specifi cs of the modern development and modifi cation of the geoeconomic strategy of the European Union with its seeking the role of one of the global leaders. The importance of glocalization as the essential trend contributing to the transformation of foreign
economic relations and reshaping geo-economic leadership is analyzed. Features of geo-economic competition under glocalization are described. Contradictions in the modern forms of integration interactions are studied: internal and external challenges faced by the EU in the context of
destabilization processes in the world economy, higher production and fi nancial imbalances, and decrease in international trade. Given the impact of fragmentation and regionalization on foreign economic activities of both the European countries and their major geo-economic partners and
competitors, the policy adjustments are analyzed.

Coronavirus pandemic Impact on the European automotive industry growth under its structural transformation

Author: Podstavkova M.I.

Currently, the automotive industry of the European Union is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, but today this sector is facing many diffi culties. For now, one of the serious issues is the sudden outbreak and rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic around the world.
Today, it is very important for European automobile companies to forecast and analyze the possible impact of the pandemic on future growth of the automotive business in the region in the short and long term for elaborating plans for the strategic development of companies in and effi cient
implementation of new business models.

The role of foreign trade in Russia’s food market growth

Author: Shurakova N.N.

The agroindustrial complex is highly relevant not only for a country but also in international economic relations. One of the important goals of the country in food security terms is to develop domestic agricultural production to satisfy domestic demand and limit dependence on imports.
Nevertheless, the indicators of the Russia’s food independence laid down in the Doctrine allow us to conclude that the country will rely on imports in the long term. Besides, the government has announced plans to stimulate exports growth resulting in seeking ways how to achieve it.
The article analyzes the state of Russia’s food market in terms of opportunities to increase export potential, as well as the reasons for the country’s continued dependence on imports of agricultural products, raw materials and food despite the current policy of import substitution. It is concluded that the most realistic goal in the medium term is to expand exports through geographical and commodity diversifi cation with gradual reduction in imports of agricultural products while aspiring to become a net exporter.

Export-import intermediation development for industrial SMEs

Author: Balakirev V.V.

The article analyzes peculiarities of export activities of industrial SMEs. The author focuses on two approaches (traditional and modern) to addressing the lack of various types of competencies in arranging all stages of export-import operations. Given current trends in export activities of
small and medium-sized enterprises, the new and promising form of cooperation is suggested: acting as an intermediary in export operations with maximum effi ciency on international marketplaces.