Kaliningrad in the Context of EU-Russia relations. By Alexey Ignatiev, Petr Shopin

Alexey Ignatiev, Petr Shopin

Kaliningrad’s economy has been growing in recent years, but it still has a long way to go to catch up to neighboring Poland and Lithuania in productivity terms. As a Russian exclave inside the European Union, Kaliningrad plays a key role in Russia-EU relations. Much of Kaliningrad’s economy now depends on the Special Economic Zone, whose benefits will be reduced when Russian joins the World Trade Organization. Accordingly, Kaliningrad needs to find a sustainable economic development model because simply maintaining the status quo only allows for moderate improvements.