http://iorj.hse.ru en-us Copyright 2025 Thu, 19 Jun 2025 00:07:53 +0300 https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2025-20-2/1058361425.html The priorities of sustainable development remain relevant even in a difficult period of external restrictions and sanctions pressure for Russia. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of measures have been taken to lay the foundation for long-term growth. The policy to build the foundations for long-term sustainable development continues - in 2024, a new cycle of work to achieve national development goals began with a presidential decree - a Unified Plan for their achievement was adopted, existing state programs and national projects are being finalised and new ones are being launched.In this article, the current measures of the Russian Federation's public policy are reviewed for compliance with the goals and objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda). The author analyses strategic planning documents and national projects of the Russian Federation, as well as the dynamics of statistical indicators in the key areas of sustainability - social, economic and environmental.Keywords: BRICS, Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2030, National development goals of Russia, climate policy, environmental policyThe article was written on the basis of the RANEPA state assignment research programmeThis article was submitted 03.03.2025 https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2025-20-2/1058362834.html The article examines the problem of assessing, from a legal perspective, the significance of international treaties in the sphere of economic development for Russia under current conditions. For the purposes of the study, the scope of international treaties under consideration is limited to multilateral agreements (treaties, recommendations, etc.) adopted within the framework of the United Nations and 27 related international organisations. Out of 225 international treaties selected for evaluation using the methodology described in the article, 58 were deemed significant. These treaties are grouped into blocks based on the similarity of the relations they regulate (investment protection, tax administrative cooperation, etc.) and selected for subsequent detailed analysis and the formulation of recommendations for Russian authorities on measures to improve domestic legal regulation and develop international legal instruments aimed at furthering economic cooperation with friendly countriesThis article was submitted 06.08.2024 . https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2025-20-2/1058374843.html The article examines how global financial crises and cataclysms that took place in the first quarter of the 21st century affected the corporate finance system. Such aspects of corporate finance as the internal control system, corporate governance principles, risk assessment, management and financial reporting are considered. Based on the analysis of publicly available information, statistical data and regulatory documents, the main changes in the above-mentioned areas of corporate finance that took place after the bankruptcy of Enron in 2001, the crisis in the US mortgage market and the subsequent financial crisis of 2008, the impact of the sanctions since 2014, as well as the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 are identified.Among the key factors that have influenced corporate finance, the following stand out: the growth in the number and diversity of regulatory requirements and restrictions (management and monitoring of regulatory compliance has become a separate and important area in corporate finance); a significant increase in the complexity and multifactorial nature of financial models and various forms of reporting; a reduction in the “planning horizon”, and an increase in the speed of business response and readiness for constant and unexpected changes in strategy, operational management, restructuring and rapid adaptation of existing business processes and systems.This article was submitted 19.07.2024 https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2025-20-2/1058380034.html Information and communication technologies (ICT) have become the primary drivers of socio-economic development in the world. ICT firms from the developed countries and some large emerging economies (e.g. India and China) play the key role in the diffusion of the ICTs, and actively promote their goods and services to the global markets. This expansion, however, is inhibited by various political risks. This article uses a broad range of sources to identify the specific political risks for transnational ICT corporations in the markets of the Global South, and to explore the use of development cooperation tools by the Western donors and China to minimise such risks. It has been found that the political risks for ICT firms tend to originate from the decisions of the host country government in four policy domains: infrastructure policy; technology transfer policy; trade policy; tax and income redistribution policy. In order to manage these risks, donors employ a wide range of development cooperation tools, which include not only traditional grants and loans (both concessional and non-concessional) but also a variety of private sector instruments. Three main ways to manage political risks were explored: 1) zero‑risk supply of goods and services through the direct involvement of ICT corporations as aid contractors; 2) mitigating risks through influencing the policy environment in the recipient countries; 3) providing political risk insurance to ICT firms. Each of these three modalities is illustrated with concrete examples of donor activities, both bilateral and multilateral. The conclusion is drawn that the discourse on the ICT development is becoming increasingly polarised due to a growing competition between major donors, primarily, the United States and China. This leads to a dangerous situation where political risk mitigation efforts of one donor produce novel political risks for another donor, making it even harder to achieve sustainable digital development in the countries that are left behind.This research has been conducted with a financial support from the Russian Science Foundation, project No 23-28-01060, https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-28-01060/This article was submitted 18.07.2024 https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2025-20-2/1042809886.html In the context of digitalisation, the issue of ensuring the security of individuals and the state from threats associated with the unlawful use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has become particularly important. Despite measures taken at both international and national levels aimed at preventing and mitigating the consequences of incidents involving the malicious use of ICTs—as well as the dissemination of skills and practices to protect against digital threats among individual businesses and citizens—the number of recorded cyber incidents and the associated costs continue to grow each year. Increasingly, representatives of government authorities and the academic community are voicing concerns about ICTs’ potential for exerting destructive informational and psychological influence, as well as the risk of militarising ICTs and cyberspace. An important characteristic of modern digital threats is their ability to spread almost instantaneously and on a large scale, elevating them to the level of global threats and requiring appropriate measures in response.Russia is one of the key players in the emerging international regime for information security. Russia took the initiative to launch multilateral negotiations on information security under the auspices of the United Nations and successfully conveys its perspective on IIS (international information security) in global governance institutions, where it wields significant influence—particularly within the BRICS international grouping. In light of the expansion of BRICS membership, the issue of comparing the member states’ priorities in the area of IIS has become especially relevant.Based on the view of BRICS’s position in the global governance system of IIS challenges as being one of the key informal negotiating platforms, the author has set the following research objective: to formulate a set of recommendations aimed at making fuller use of the negotiation potential of an expanded BRICS in the process of shaping the international regime for information security. In the course of preparing this article, the author conducted a qualitative analysis of statements made by representatives of BRICS member states during meetings of the UN Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) from 2021 to 2025, which to date has been the most representative negotiating platform for IIS issues. Based on the results of this analysis, the convergent and divergent positions of BRIC S members regarding the key aspects of the IIS discussion were identified. These conclusions are supplemented by an examination of the positions of BRICS member states on issues related to the adoption of a UN Convention on Cybercrime.This article also presents the results of a qualitative retrospective analysis of collective BRICS decisions on IIS issues. Decisions by BRICS leaders, adopted by consensus and recorded in final declarations, have been classified according to the thematic structure of the OEWG negotiations, enabling the author to determine the most in-demand and most challenging areas of cooperation within the grouping’s IIS agenda. The recommendations developed as part of this study are provided in the conclusion of the present work.The article was written on the basis of the RANEPA state assignment research programme.This article was submitted 29.11.2024.