Vol 13, No 4 (2023)

The article presents a fundamental analysis of trends in the world economy of the 21st century on the basis of analysis of key world financial indicators and trade policy of the world’s leading countries. The study addresses the major economic and political developments that have taken place since the beginning of 2000 to identify their impact on the evolution of the global financial system. Based on the identification of new trends in the conditions of the changed economic and political realities, the authors of the article characterize the situation in the world economy in 2023. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worsening of the world geopolitical situation in early 2022 on the main economic indicators was revealed; and the analysis of changes in the trade policy of leading national economies was conducted. Factors that can negatively affect the development of the financial market of China and the EU countries have been identified.

The article is devoted to identifying the influence of the policies of OPEC and OPEC+ member states on the changing dynamics of the global political and economic system. To achieve this goal, the authors conduct a fundamental analysis of the 2020 oil crisis as a consequence of the confrontation of interests between the leading OPEC and OPEC+ countries and the impact of this crisis on the dynamics of leading oil brands and stock indices in the short and long term. Further, the analysis of changes in the course of the trade policy of the OPEC and OPEC+ countries in the context of the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis in February 2022 and its impact on global political and economic changes is carried out. Based on the dynamics of changes in the market rate of the leading oil brands and changes in the trends of the stock indices of the Russian Federation and the United States, the influence of economic and political decisions of the states that are members of the above-mentioned international intergovernmental organizations on the dynamics of changes in the trends of the global political and economic system in 2023 is considered. According to the results of the study, the authors draw a conclusion concerning the political unity of the countries that are members of the international organizations represented on the basis of changes in trade relations during the aggravation of the Ukrainian crisis. In the context of negative geopolitical changes in 2022 and 2023, changes in the role of OPEC and OPEC+ countries in the global financial system are also considered. The presented research assumes to contribute to the analysis of changes in the trends of the world economy observed in 2022-2023.

Today, the global world has embarked on the fourth energy transition, which is also relevant for the African continent. Taking into account the population growth and economic growth of the African continent, the energy demand will increase annually, which requires the development and implementation of effective energy generation measures to meet energy needs. Based on the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth, the article aims to identify the potential opportunities and the role of the Russian Federation in the transformation of African energy.The article analyzes the energy supply and the situation in the energy sector of the African continent. The author examine the directions of promising cooperation between Russia and African countries in the EAEU-Africa and BRICS-Africa formats for the development of the energy potential of African countries. The integration scenario for the transformation and development of African energy using the potential of the BRICS countries, the EAEU and the African continent is identified as the most acceptable.The research results can be useful for experts in the field of the world economy, specialists dealing with the problems of energy transformation and transition to low-carbon energy, researchers of the development problems of the African continent, as well as representatives of government authorities of the BRICS countries.

Despite the efforts made by African countries to strengthen their capacity to mobilize resources for the implementation of both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Agenda 2063, notable challenges that continue to hinder optimal revenue collection still exist. In fact, global shocks, namely the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian–Ukrainian conflict and climate change-related crises, have led to colossal funding gaps that currently reflect ambiguous prospects for the continent. Nevertheless, new horizons opens up a wide range of opportunities related to the mobilization of domestic financial resources of the continent's countries to ensure economic prosperity, growth and sustainable development. Based on the analysis of the Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the author of the article presents our vision of the system of mechanisms for mobilizing domestic financial resources for the economic development of Africa. The author suggests that the mobilization of domestic resources can be considered as a tool for ensuring economic growth, eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development of any economy. This article is the first in a series of publications devoted to the problems and prospects of mobilizing the domestic financial resources needed to ensure sustainable economic growth and development in African countries. The article is intended for specialists in world economy and international relations, economists, Africanists, as well as anyone interested in integration and international economic relations in general.

The article is devoted to the analysis of development trends in poverty reduction in the Republic of Benin. Existing academic research on poverty in Benin from the 1990s to the present is reviewed. As an element of the article that has signs of scientific novelty, the authors position an assessment of the prospects for poverty reduction in the Republic of Benin, taking into account the latest reforms of the government of the West African state. This assessment consists of identifying the effectiveness of reforms carried out and projects completed. It is emphasized that government reforms, on the one hand, are aimed at restructuring the management system in various sectors such as social, educational, medical and many others, and on the other hand, at building infrastructure in order to fill the gap and create more favorable living conditions, especially for the most vulnerable groups population.The article may be useful to government officials, undergraduate and graduate students, and anyone interested in the problem of poverty.

The article analyzes the peculiarities of Russian-Chinese trade from 2019 to 2023. The authors examine the key events of this period and study the dynamics of Russian-Chinese trade relations. The growth of trade volumes between Russia and China is described; the commodity structure of export-import operations is analyzed. The authors assess the impact of sanctions on trade and economic cooperation between Russia and China. The risks of secondary sanctions that can affect the economic relations of the countries are evaluated. The characteristic of the benefits that each of the parties receives as a result of cooperation is given. The analysis of cooperation in key industries was conducted. The main areas of cooperation between the countries in such areas as energy, finance, industry, transport are highlighted. Data on imports and exports between countries are given. Thus, based on the analysis of quantitative indicators of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and China, the authors have tried to identify its qualitative characteristics, and most importantly, latent challenges and threats to Russia in the further development of this cooperation in the current conditions.

Цель статьи - проанализировать взаимосвязь между некоторыми показателями финансовых услуг, их уровнем качества и банкротством банков. Авторы статьи рассматривают вопрос о том, как улучшение этих услуг позволяет избежать рисков и кризисов в банковском секторе, в частности, банкротства заемщиков или их неспособности выплачивать свои финансовые обязательства, что оказывает влияние на эффективность банковской системы и бесперебойность банковских услуг, предоставляемых клиентам. Для анализа стандартной взаимосвязи и ее экономической интерпретации была использована методология ARDL. Результаты стандартных тестов показали, что подходящей моделью является модель (1, 0, 0, 2), в которой учитываются следующие переменные: внутренняя переменная банковского дефолта (один период замедления), переменные банковского спреда и услуг электронных платежей (без периодов замедления), д переменная качества и объема банковского обслуживания (два периода замедления).

The current geopolitical conditions are associated with the need to form a clear and balanced state policy in all key areas, including currency and customs regulation, which are becoming even more important amidst the global crisis. In addition, the processes of digitalization and building a digital economy are prerequisites for the digital transformation of the activities of the customs authorities of the Russian Federation and the effective fight against corruption. In this regard, the research topic is recognized as relevant one.The author studies the problems and specifics of customs policy and its institutional framework. This requires taking into account the economic interests of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the optimization of operations, procedures and costs of the Federal Customs Service in a digital environment. This undoubtedly has a positive effect on the process of minimizing corruption manifestations.The scientific novelty of the research consists in generalizing the experience and Russian legislation of building a digital customs, identifying problems related to customs administration, modeling the transition from automation to digital modification of customs procedures, expert assessment of the digital maturity of the Federal Customs Service and prospects for combating corruption.The research results can be useful to experts and specialists working in the field of customs regulation, state authorities, as well as researchers studying the problems of improving the efficiency of customs administration and combating corruption.