AIKE - Articles

A grail with walls

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:59:52 -0500

Los Angeles Times. By Elizabeth Kolbert

Last week, nearly 150 reporters from around the world converged on the tiny German town of Deutschneudorf to hear an announcement by the mayor, Heinz-Peter Haustein, who is also a member of Parliament and, in his spare time, a treasure hunter.

Kaliningrad to be Putin’s Hong Kong

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:54:57 -0500

The Times. Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad was the land that time forgot a decade ago, isolated in Europe and with its economy devastated by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Niche Living

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 05:52:17 -0400

A principled EU approach to Russia

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:22:25 -0400

International Herald Tribune.

By Paddy Ashdown

The relationship between the European Union and Russia has been going through a particularly bad patch lately, with disputes over Kosovo, missiles and energy. Trumping all these, however, is the standoff over the Litvinenko affair - initially a dispute between Britain and Russia - which has been taken up by the European Union. The bilateral problems of Poland, Estonia and Lithuania with Russia have also been taken up by the European Union in a growing sense of solidarity.

EU Optimistic About Cooperation with Russia

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:34:02 -0400

Oil & Gas Eurasia. The third and the last day of the 5th Petroleum and Gas Congress held alongside the 9th MIOGE exhibition in Moscow was marked by the strong message sent by EU officials and European companies: Russia is and will remain Europe’s most important strategic partner in the energy sector for years to come.

The meeting was highlighted by the speech of Christian Cleutinx, Eurocommission’s Director General for Energy. “There is a lot of optimism for the future,” he said referring to the potential of Russia’s cooperation with the EU. “We were pleased when President Putin confirmed the EU’s energy demand would be covered by Russian supplies; the EU-Russia energy dialog is extremely important for us.”

EU to shield gas and electricity sector from buyouts

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 06:05:25 -0400

The Guardian. Private equity and hedge funds would be banned from taking over the gas and electricity networks of huge energy groups unless they met strict investment targets under crucial proposals for the entire EU to be adopted by MEPs later today, the Guardian has learned.

Kaliningrad happy to host anti-missile complex

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 11:19:30 -0400

The Sunday Telegraph. By Bojan Pancevski, Gethin Chamberlain and Nadia Popova in Moscow

Sergei Ivanov Threatens U.S. but Frightens Europe

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 11:18:38 -0400

Kommersant. Washington criticized on Friday Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov for the threats to deploy missiles in Russia's Kaliningrad region if the U.S. makes no concessions in the missile defense issue. The U.S. Department of State and the White House made it clear that ultimatums do not help solve the dispute. It might mean the U.S. is ready to come to terms with Russia, but on conditions different from those suggested by Moscow. Meanwhile, Ivanov’s threats alarmed Europe.

Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Wednesday in Uzbekistan: “If the United States accepts our offers, we will no longer need to deploy more missiles in Russia’s European part, including Kaliningrad.”

Kaliningrad economy: Quo Vadis?

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 05:24:17 -0400

Authors:

Alexey Ignatiev

60 years is a considerable period in the life of a concrete person. It’s time to collect stones, as they say. For economic life of 60-years’ region anniversary it is a great occasion to discuss great milestones, must-have-been dreams, realities of today and perspectives for the nearest and far future.

Presidents’ problems

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 03:30:58 -0400

Authors:

Nikolay Makarov

Last week, a ferryboat called “Baltiysk”, which is capable to carry more than a hundred of railroad cars, arrived in the Ust-Luga port. The ferry crossing was opened by President of Russia Vladimir Putin. This is how Russia is solving a part of the problem of Kaliningrad transit. Experts believe that the major portion of unresolved problems in relations with Lithuania and Poland can be settled at a trilateral summit.

Competitiveness of the Kaliningrad‘s Economy: Problems and Opportunities

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 09:52:37 -0400

Authors:

Alexey Ignatiev

The favorable geographical position of Kaliningrad region with regard to the main trading partner of the Russian Federation – to the European Union – and the status of special economic zone create specific external conditions, in many respects distinct from conditions for economic activities in other Russian regions. Although the effects of the factors are not obvious and not only positive, in combination with such traditional factors of competitive advantages as relatively low cost of labour and development of the industrial and transport infrastructure, they have actually decisively influenced the formation of economic specialization of the Kaliningrad region at the present stage of development.

Kaliningrad turns into an EU-flanked tax haven for Asian firms?

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 07:26:52 -0400

In 1996, a special economic zone was established in Kaliningrad to encourage investments in the region. The zone’s attraction is duty-exempt import. If a company can increase the value of an imported product by 30 per cent and change its customs heading, it is entitled to sell the product exempt of duty elsewhere in Russia as well.
The special economic zone has resulted in a steep increase in Kaliningrad’s foreign imports and sales to the mother country. The region’s share of Russian imports is ten times bigger than its share of the country’s GDP.
Despite its status as a special economic zone Kaliningrad has not managed to convince foreign investors. At the end of 2005, direct investments totalled less than 90 million US dollars, or slightly over 90 dollars per each Kaliningrad resident.
Direct foreign investments per inhabitant in Kaliningrad are only one seventh of the Russian average. In contrast, per-inhabitant investments made by foreign companies in Lithuania are nearly 20 times larger than those of Kaliningrad. This is a huge difference, taking into account that only 15 years ago both Lithuania and Kaliningrad came under the same economic system.
The Kremlin, too, has noted the disappointing progress in foreign investments. To rectify the situation, a new law for the Kaliningrad special economic zone entered into force in April 2006.

Kaliningrad Transit: Achievements and perspectives

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 06:06:01 -0400

Authors:

Gerhard Lohan

Back in November 2002 the EU and Russia laid the ground, by way of a joint statement adopted at the highest possible level, for the transit of persons between the Kaliningrad region and mainland Russia. It involves the use of “facilitated travel documents” and has operated to the entire satisfaction of all sides ever since it was put into effect in July 2003. On average, 1.5 million persons travel annually to/from Kaliningrad and so far only relatively few had to be refused at the border or taken off the transit trains.

Kaliningrad transit and visa issues revisited

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 04:25:25 -0400

Authors:

Evgeny Vinokurov

CEPS Commentary, July 2006
http://www.ceps.be/Article.php?article_id=531

The first crisis in EU-Russia relations over the ‘Kaliningrad transit’ issue took place in 2002-03, when Lithuania introduced a visa regime. That move provoked strong concerns in Russia that its Kaliningrad Region would be politically and economically detached from the mainland. Russia and Lithuania managed to reach a half-hearted compromise, which was implemented in July 2003. The compromise was at best temporary, however, since it was already known that Lithuania aspired to join the Schengen zone a few years later. Now that Lithuania will most probably join the Schengen zone by late 2007, that time has now about come. The consultations on the Kaliningrad transit issue are ongoing, although a final decision is not yet in sight. The prospects of achieving a comprehensive breakthrough are dim, due to the shallow nature of EU-Russia relations. To avoid a new crisis, another compromise is needed.

Kaliningrad as a Means of Europeanization of Russia?

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 07:22:03 -0400

Authors:

Alexey Ignatiev

This year in the middle of May I was invited to participate the Baltic Sea INTERREG III B final project conference. The event took place in Sweden and the shortest way there was via Gdansk. Early in the morning I left home for Mamonovo and soon found myself at the Russian check- point. There were not so many cars from Kaliningrad in the queue, and in twenty minutes, having passed the Russian customs and border control, I, being surprised with efficiency of our bodies, made my way to the Polish border. And there was a great surprise. There were two queues of machines at the departure to the Polish side. In one queue - much longer - Poles, in another – about 40 cars - Russians. After some time, I started to realize that I can just miss my plane. The Russian queue moved extremely slowly, while the Polish queue - very fast. Only in five (!!!) hours I managed to pass the hundred-meter site that divided me from a Polish barrier.