Vol. 27 No. 1 (2025)

This article examines political power as a factor influencing interstate integration relations. The main emphasis is on how the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union, and BRICS+ function in the context of post-global trends. The authors try to clarify the roles of political power in post-global integration processes considering contemporary geopolitical and geostrategic shifts. Given the global challenges of transnationalization based on Western technocratic dominance in the worldwide market, world powers - important geopolitical centers - are proposing new integration strategies to protect their national interests. As an example, we can note the actions taken by the BRICS+ alliance, which seeks to strengthen a multipolar world and lessen reliance on international Western financial and economic systems. In these situations, political power plays a crucial role in integration by creating coordinated strategies to protect national interests and preserve political and economic stability. Political authorities' actions are a systemic factor that affects how participants interact as well as how stable associations are in the face of global challenges. At the same time, its function aims to guarantee the long-term growth of the countries that are members of different integration associations.

The article explores various methods for standardizing contractual documentation. The author highlights the necessity of professionalizing the work on standardizing contractual documentation in the syndicated loan field. The adoption of Russian law initially went unquestioned, yet its long-term insufficiency stemmed from the premature replacement of the pre-existing, accepted LMA standard with a newly formed national model. The relevant project, initiated in 2012, was finalized in 2015 with the Association of Regional Banks of Russia’s publication of the initial syndicated loan agreement compliant with Russian law. The new standard form for 2023 was being prepared under different circumstances, including the steadily increasing use of the Russian-law syndicated loan agreements, the legislative body’s formation, and the growing sanctions pressure on Russia. The developers had to adopt essentially different strategies and change the market-used contractual clauses. The completed work has facilitated a substantial expansion of available provisions for the parties involved, a significant standardization advancement in syndicated lending practices, and thorough legal compliance for syndicate operations.

The article discusses the implementation of flexible forms of employment in Russian labor practice in the continuous functioning sectors of the economy. Social demands for work-life balance and objective technological advancements support the relevance of the topic. The modern environment favors a shift to more flexible forms of employment, including telecommuting, as well as shorter working hours. However, as the 2020 coronavirus pandemic demonstrated, such changes in employment types might not be applied everywhere. Information technologies and production automation allow some non-office workers to be transferred to remote workplaces. Some industries, such as manufacturing and transportation, have all the potential for remote work, as demonstrated by the case studies in the article. Nearly every continuous sector of the economy faces challenges related to a labor shortage, both objective and subjective. These challenges include a large percentage of the able-bodied population moving to the defense sector and a lack of competitive salaries.

Due to the country's unique characteristics and the essence of the digital transformation process, the authors proposed a hypothesis regarding the viability and possibility of evaluating Russia's digital transformation as an overall indicator of its subjects. The analysis has demonstrated that it is feasible to objectively evaluate the digital transformation of the Russian Federation using data on its subjects if certain process characteristics are present and the proper methodology is applied. However, Russia's existing methods for assessing digital transformation are outdated and only evaluate the quality indicator of process management. The authors developed and suggested a new approach to evaluate the Russian Federation's digital transformation progress as a combined index of its subjects, with the ability to provide specifics by industry, governmental level, and individual criteria. Applying this methodology will enable a more objective evaluation that considers the unique characteristics of each of the 89 Russian Federation constituent entities. This will allow for the identification of leaders and outsiders, as well as the replication of best practices to hasten the country's digital transformation. Initial testing led to ratings for digitalization in the Republic of Kalmykia and Moscow. The information gathered is consistent with the evaluation ratings of the individual transformation components that have been published.

In recent years, Russian society has paid increasing attention to the development of information and communication technologies and digital transformation in state and municipal administration. The advancement of information and communication technologies is a pertinent instrument for accomplishing the digital transformation’s objectives in the state and municipal government sectors. The article covers the advantages of digital transformation, its components, and the advancement of information and communication technologies. The study explores the potential for implementing government technology and how information and communication technologies can be used to enhance public administration. The need to create new methods for government regulation, planning, and communication with citizens and businesses in the state and municipal administration sectors drives the necessity for information and communication technology advancement. Information and communication technology is an instrument the state can use to improve planning effectiveness by bringing social reality and governance models closer together. According to the author, information and communication technologies operationalize governance space and resources by establishing digital identities.

The article looks at an individual’s digital rights and responsibilities as the foundation for determining the person’s digital status. The relevance of the topic is due to the necessity of defining and establishing digital rights and responsibilities, as well as mechanisms for protecting individuals’ digital status. The rapid development of digital society and digital space has impacted the way in which social relations, spheres of life, and social institutions are constructed using digital methods of processing information. Understanding the structure and content of a person’s digital status is essential in this context. This includes digital rights and responsibilities, online identity, reputation built through social media interactions and other digital platforms, and features that grant access to a variety of digital services and opportunities. The list of digital rights related to the Internet and cyberspace is continuously growing. The Internet plays a crucial role in realizing human rights and improving people’s living conditions. The article includes the findings of an expert survey on protecting users’ digital rights and responsibilities. The survey results emphasize the complexity and versatility of rights and responsibilities in the digital space, the importance of ethical standards, and the need to regulate access and control issues in the context of digital rights and responsibilities.

There is growing interest in the creation and substantive analysis of different rankings. This is because the gross domestic product is no longer the only trustworthy measure of quality of life and a standard by which managers make decisions, even though it still serves as an instrument for macroeconomic analysis. There has been a shift in the reasoning behind ratings in favor of considering social, environmental, and cultural aspects in addition to economic ones. This article focuses on identifying potential areas of practical application of the results of determining the relevant ratings to improve the quality of life in Russian regions. Ranking objects of particular relevance includes the sustainable development index and various modifications of ESG ratings. The author demonstrates how the ESG ratings of Russian regions, which were published by various initiators, vary greatly and offer a chance to create a representative integrated rating with practical relevance. The author suggests that the system of indicators for evaluating the performance of governors authorized by the relevant Decree of the President of the Russian Federation serve as a consistent basis for standardizing the ESG rating methodology. Using the benchmarking mechanism, we can promote the best practices for ESG transformation of the regions’ management systems and identify reserves for attaining the Sustainable Development Goals.

Despite how divided the modern world may be, environmental conservation is quickly emerging as one of the main challenges. By increasing public awareness of nature conservation, the state not only increases the citizens’ responsibility to the environment but also addresses several other urgent issues. The potential for modernizing institutions in our society remains untapped, even after thirty years of economic reforms. Therefore, a new system of state support for environmental protection initiatives must be created. Some specific organizational and economic characteristics of environmental protection make it inappropriate for integration into the framework of typical market relations. Financing any activity, including environmental protection, should not be transferred from the state to the society through implementing new interactive systems between the authorities and society. The primary source of this support should still be state funds; however, additional funding sources like endowment funds, philanthropic organizations, philanthropists, and public-private partnerships should also be considered.

The article summarizes the findings of a study on developing a closed-loop economy model at the federal and regional levels in Russia. The study aims to identify the challenges faced by Russian market participants in implementing circular economy instruments and technologies at the regional level within the current environment. Given the depletion of natural resources and growing pressure on ecosystems, more and more developed and developing countries are shifting to resource-efficient economies, where the most economic value is derived from efficient resource use. The author examined the most popular circular economy business models and their development pathways in the Russian economy, as well as the key requirements for advancing a circular economy compared to the traditional linear economic model. The study analyzed the dynamics of the formation, disposal, utilization, and burial of solid municipal waste. The research details the outcomes of the federal projects «Comprehensive Solid Municipal Waste Management System» and «Closed- Loop Economy», as well as the application of circular economy instruments in solid municipal waste management. The study results revealed the most effective indicators for achieving the «Environmental Well- Being» national goal. The author identified the main barriers to the circular economy’s expansion and suggested government support initiatives aimed at boosting the supply and demand for secondary resources.

The article focuses on the foundations of corporate culture as a social mechanism for promoting attitudes toward sustainable development, which is a driver of making an organization more effective in the modern world. The author examines how best practices are applied in social and HR policies, lean management, anti-corruption, and digital culture. The article outlines the potential for implementing an innovative client-centered approach in the public administration system, which refers to citizens and civil servants as «clients». Based on the Sustainable Development Goals, the paper highlights how corporate ethics and business codes can enhance an organization’s strategic management. The author concludes that integrating sustainable development principles into the management system requires a human element. Establishing sustainable development principles lays the foundations for developing new legal consciousness, legal norms, and governance structures. The primary ideological trend is a shift away from the narrow egoism of individuals or groups at all levels, including the conduct of individual organization administrations and their employees. The implementation of ESG strategies can help the state achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Higher education is the driving force behind scientific, technological, and socioeconomic advancement and is crucial to the development of intellectual capital. The article focuses on identifying creative methodological approaches to teaching students and examining the historical phases of development in Russia’s higher education system. To meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world, the authors stress the importance of knowledge management, pedagogical innovations, and educational systems that are flexible and adaptable. The evolution of the Russian higher education system is viewed through the lens of how educational reforms have affected socially significant processes, such as the development of civil society and the enhancement of human capital. Additionally, the process of adapting Russian higher education to local conditions through introducing innovative domestic didactic ideas that improve the quality of specialist training and the efficiency of knowledge assimilation is thoroughly examined. The authors also focus on how the state has shaped and established the higher education system from the XVIII century up to the present moment. The experts pay special attention to the difficulties facing the contemporary education system, such as the fast-shifting demands of the labor market and the requirement to develop specialists who can quickly adjust to new circumstances. The study highlights the importance of teaching students how to learn independently and adapt to changing conditions and the demands of the professional environment.

The two-volume textbook for master's students by the professor of the Presidential Academy, Doctor of Law, Professor I.V. Ponkin on the theory and mechanisms of modern public administration, "Theory of Public Administration" (566 pages; first volume) and "Deviantology of Public Administration" (324 pages; second volume), published in May 2024 by the Moscow publishing house "INFRA-M", deserves the closest attention of legal scholars-administrators and legal scholars-theorists of public administration in its second edition, not only in relation to substantiated scientific definitions, theoretical generalizations, but also in relation to the reform of teaching activities, including the course of administrative law, and in other areas of pragmatic use.

Russia and Serbia have a long history of political and economic cooperation. Maintaining bilateral ties is not only consistent with historical customs but is in the national interest of both Russia and Serbia in the current political environment. A key role in the execution of economic projects is played by the Intergovernmental Russian-Serbian Committee (IRSC) on Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation, which had its latest meeting in November 2024 in St. Petersburg. The Russian and Serbian media have extensively reported on IRSC’s activities. The socio-economic situation in Serbia during the past year, which was characterized by the tragic events in Novi Sad and the subsequent mass protests, has been viewed differently by the latter due to their divergent political orientations. The Serbian media significantly influences the economy’s direction within and outside Serbia. The article aims to examine how the Serbian media will respond to the Republic’s socio-economic circumstances by the start of 2025.

The article describes how nomenclature became the basis of the Soviet party-state apparatus in the 1920s and 1930s of the XX century. The authors explain how the nomenclature turned into an independent social institution with a centralized management system, its own norms of political behavior, moral attitudes, mechanisms of recruitment and regulation of activities. Particular attention is paid to the formation of the “nomenclature complex” - a system of accounting and distribution of personnel, the introduction of which was accompanied by numerous difficulties and required constant intervention of the party authorities. Since the early 1920s, an important direction of personnel policy was the formation of personnel reserve, which marked the beginning of systemic work that continued in the following decades. It is noted that in the process of developing the nomenclature, a classification of civil servants based on a class approach was created, which strengthened the ideologized nature of management. One of the key consequences of the introduction of the nomenclature principle was the substitution of electability with appointments, which led to the alienation of citizens from participation in state governance. The electoral mechanisms enshrined in the Soviet constitutions became a formality to cover up the centralized personnel policy. This, in turn, contributed to a high turnover of personnel in the nomenclature system.