Балтийский регион
Baltic Region
ISSN: 2079-8555 (Print)
ISSN: 2310-0524 (Online)
ENG | RUS
Geoeconomics

Russia’s foreign trade in raw materials and industrial goods: the impact of integration agreements and sanctions

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of integration agreements and sanctions on Russia’s foreign trade in raw materials and industrial goods. Using international statistical data for 1995—2024 from UNCTAD, the World Bank, CEIC, UNIDO, CEPII, FAO, WTO, and GSDB, and applying a gravity model that controls for globalization effects, the study assesses the potential for stimulating Russia’s foreign trade through WTO membership and participation in trade and cooperation agreements under conditions of sanction constraints.

The results of the analysis demonstrate an overall negative impact of sanctions on Russia’s trade, with large-scale restrictive measures exerting the most pronounced effect, substantially reducing trade with Western countries that imposed sanctions in 2022—2024. The influence of investment agreements on Russia’s foreign trade is found to be invariant. Although advanced (deep) trade agreements, in contrast to shallow ones, have a generally positive long-term effect on trade, they stimulate expansion in industrial goods to a greater extent than in raw materials. The positive impact of both advanced and shallow trade agreements, as well as WTO membership, on Russia’s foreign trade, particularly in industrial goods, shows a strengthening trend over time. In addition, the overall growth of international trade in 2022—2024 contributed to the expansion of Russia’s trade with WTO member countries, primarily in raw materials. Comparative analysis indicates that the reorientation of trade towards WTO members, together with the recovery of global trade, helped mitigate the negative effects of large-scale sanctions imposed by Western countries, while Russia’s advanced and shallow trade agreements played a supplementary stimulatory role in this process. These findings demonstrate the necessity of expanding Russia’s integration frameworks with ‘friendly’ countries in the context of intensifying sanctions pressure from Western states.

Scientific and technological development of Russian regions: a typological analysis, 2012—2024

Abstract

Contemporary geoeconomic transformations have heightened the need for spatial analysis of the sustainability of scientific and technological development across Russian regions, parti­cularly in light of the strategic transition from import substitution to technological sovereignty. This study examines typological differences in the level and dynamics of scientific and technological activity of Russian regions between 2012 and 2024, identifying territories that have consistently demonstrated strong performance and are therefore capable of serving as centres for national technological policy amid changing external conditions. The analysis applies hierarchical cluster methods to longitudinal data on regional scientific and technological inputs (staff, funding) and outputs (performance). The extended temporal scope enables the identification of stable regional dynamic profiles, revealing structural distinctions and long-term developmental trajectories. This approach is especially relevant today, as national scientific and technological development increasingly depends on domestic resources, capabilities and competencies. The study establishes a typology of regions, with a core group distinguished by substantial resource concentration and persistently superior performance. It is concluded that the analysis of spatial and temporal dynamics enables the identification of regions that demonstrate resilience to external shifts and have the capacity to contribute to the implementation of a long-term state strategy in science, technology and innovation.