Russia’s Integration into the World Economy: A European

The paper discusses the foreign trade, capital movement, mi-gration, and, somewhat more extensively, the institutional dimen-sions of Russia’s integration into the world economy. Possible implications of the sheer size of the Russian nation are outlined. It is argued that the desire to avoid a break-up of the nation may necessitate excessive centralization. Also discussed are some specific aspects of the regional and sector composition of trade, such as the lack of a Russian brand name. It is furthermore sug-gested that world market prices for natural gas could imply limits to a persistent orientation of Russian foreign trade towards the European Union. Capital flight cum out-migration is regarded as a worrisome combination, and the chances of reducing capital flight by way of an amnesty are seen as slim. Within the institu-tional dimension, WTO accession is considered a fait accompli. However, the present state and the future development of Rus-sia’s relations with the European Union are found to be more problematical, with the difficulties ranging from dual energy pric-ing to the practical impossibility of Russia becoming a member of the EU. At the same time, the paper concludes with a basically 1 I am indebted to Evgeny Gavrilenkov for joint work in the context of GLORO