Russia in Global Affairs

The structure of economic ties that took shape in the past decades has serious inherent inconsistencies. The widespread conviction that the expanding global economy is stable by virtue of its scale and diversification of the participants’ interests is creaking at the seams. Many macroeconomic indicators have become unpredictable, aggravating the risks of projects with long payoff periods.

The Shtokman project may be a forerunner of critical changes in the global energy sector. The older-generation majors are heading for very tough competition. The governments of the resource-rich countries, and national companies enjoying governmental support are interested in reducing the role of transnational corporations to that of ordinary contractors.

Russia’s standing in the world is in great part contingent on its rich mineral resources. Successful participation in the international division of labor presupposes effective use of this advantage, although it should not be confined to this.

While in Soviet times there were reasons to speak of mineral extracting sectors – particularly oil and gas extraction – as a burden on the economy, analysts now tend to speak of the oil and gas sector as a locomotive promoting economic growth. This growth has been sound enough, which is made evident by the steady increase in the energy efficiency of the Russian economy.