The article presents the author’s perspective on the problems associated with the phenomenon of transport corridors. This topic has received sufficient reflection in the academic literature, but still remains in demand due to the dynamic nature of the research object itself. The geopolitical component of the formation, and development of transport corridors is still poorly covered. This article is aimed at filling this gap.

The goal of this paper was to study the influence of geopolitical factors on the development of transport corridors and changes in their structure. As part of this goal, research was carried out in the following areas: study of the nature of geopolitical factors, political motives for the creation, management and control of transport corridors. As a result, the author substantiated a qualitatively new level of complexity of the world geopolitical landscape, which determines the development of transport corridors. The article examines the processes of formation of two dialectically opposite tendencies: «space compression» due to an increase in the intensity and speed of communications and its expansion due to the integration of new territories into the global transport system. The article supplements the content, which is aggregated around the urgent need to form a new scientific discipline «transport geopolitics».

After the collapse of the USSR, Turkey began to shape its energy policy toward the Caspian region. Turkish energy policy focused on the development of relations with Azerbaijan, due to geographical location and economic opportunities. This was facilitated by Western countries, which supported projects for the delivery of oil and gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey. Due to the implementation of a series of pipeline projects with Azerbaijan and Georgia, Turkey gained access to the Caspian Sea. As a result, Turkey has become a key player, which, on the one hand, has gained leverage on Baku, and on the other hand, has the ability to regulate the volume of gas supplies to Europe. Having strengthened its position on the western coast of the Caspian Sea, Turkey was interested in expanding its presence, including in the energy sector, on the eastern coast – in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. This can be done by the construction of trans-Caspian pipelines or the implementation of energy corridors across the Caspian. However, Turkey will have to take into account the provisions of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, which was adopted in 2018. The document determined the approaches to the laying of export pipelines on the seabed of the Caspian Sea. In addition, Turkish policy will clash with the position of Russia and Iran, which do not support Turkey’s strengthening in the Caspian region, and even more so, the implementation of pipeline projects. In early 2021, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan agreed to develop a controversial oil and gas field in the Caspian, thereby taking a step towards establishing energy cooperation. Turkey will try to take advantage of this fact, as the Azerbaijani-Turkmen cooperation will give a new impetus to the promotion of its interests in the Caspian Region.

The article examines the specifics of Russia‘s interaction with Moldova in the energy sphere, the main directions of Russia‘s investment policy in this area, and analyzes the results of the implementation of the investment program of Moldovagaz JSC in 2020, based on the fact that the volume of investments in the development of networks in the Moldovagaz system has tripled in the past year.
The author argues that the active investment policy in the gas sector of Moldova, to a large extent, was made possible by the supply of Russian gas to Moldova at a preferential price. The article also examines the validity of Moldovagaz‘s criticism of its effectiveness. The article examines the prospects for Moldova‘s accession to the EU‘s Third Energy Package this year, which aims at Chisinau‘s attempt to enter the European energy market while reducing its heavy dependence on Russian gas. An obstacle on this path is the large aggregate debt of Moldova to Gazprom, whose negative attitude to the terms of the Third Energy Package has long been known.

The article is devoted to the study of the energy sector development in the Swiss Confederation. The key trends in the Swiss energy market are identified: a reduction in the total volume of energy consumption in the country, which energy carriers occupy the largest share in the consumption structure, trends in the legislative framework regulating the energy sector. In 2017, a new Energy Strategy until 2050 was adopted, the main message of which is to phase out the use of nuclear energy and switch to renewable energy sources. The most important types of energy used in Switzerland are oil, electricity from nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, and natural gas. The largest amount of energy is consumed by the transport sector. Also, the dynamics and the ratio of indicators of production, export, import of energy in Switzerland were analyzed. Due to the very small number of mineral deposits, about 75 % of the energy is supplied to the country by partner states. Fuel resources (oil and oil products) account for a significant share in imports, and electricity – in exports. The energy cooperation between Switzerland and the countries of the European Union is considered – the current stage, the dynamics of the supply of fuel energy resources, the prospects for the development of relations in the energy sector are identified. Over the past 10 years, the countries of the European Union have occupied about 100 % of the supply of fuel resources to Switzerland. Switzerland has been in talks with the EU on a bilateral agreement in the electricity sector since 2007. A key perspective in energy cooperation between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation is the transition from the use of non-renewable fuel energy resources and nuclear energy to renewable energy sources.

The author of the article examines the oil and gas energy sector of Pakistan, which is a net importer of energy resources. The researcher notes that the development of energy is hindered by the unstable socio-political situation in the republic (the unification of opposition parties, rallies and riots demanding the resignation of the government), as well as the process of the country‘s recovery from the economic crisis and the fulfillment of its obligations to repay loans previously received from the IMF, China and Saudi Arabia. All this significantly affects the situation in the energy sector, where the northern densely populated province of Punjab is not fully provided with hydrocarbon and other resources. Nevertheless, the Government of I. Khan is making efforts to modernize the energy sector of the republic. Thus, at the end of 2020, an additional protocol to the 2015 intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Pakistan was signed, which will allow the construction of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline (ex. North-South Stream gas pipeline) to begin in July 2021. It will connect the southern cities of Karachi and Gwadar, where the regasification terminals of liquefied natural gas are located with the city of Lahore in the north of the country. Undoubtedly, this will contribute to the socio-economic development of the republic. The researcher notes that in addition to the Pakistan Stream, Islamabad is going to implement another project for the construction of the main gas pipeline Iran-Pakistan-India. Pakistan plans to complete construction on its territory by 2024. However, there are still significant risks for this project. In particular, India has withdrawn from this project again. The author draws attention to the fact that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (IRP) is currently focused on the purchase of LNG and is actively building regasification terminals. Despite the security issues within the republic (primarily terrorist activity in Balochistan province) and the presence of a common long border with Afghanistan, the IRP seeks to significantly expand its infrastructure and thus increase the future transit potential. This is done not only with the help of the main investor – China, which is somewhat more cautious, than before the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection, in treating infrastructure investments projects, in particular to Pakistan. Islamabad is trying to enlist support from the financially prosperous Arabian monarchies of the Persian Gulf. Such investments, of course, will not save the country from the economic crisis and rising inflation, but will prevent the collapse of the national economy.

On January 21, 2021, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan on joint exploration and development of the hydrocarbon resources of the Dostlug (Druzhba) discovery in the Caspian Sea. This event caused a wide response, both in the political and expert circles of the Caspian countries, and among non-regional actors, which makes it necessary to assess the impact of the agreements on the geopolitics and geo-economics of the Caspian region. The author studies the history of relations between Baku and Ashgabat around the issue of ownership of the disputed Serdar field. The paper analyzes the assessments that were given to this event both inside and outside the Caspian region, and examines the approaches of Western countries, primarily the United States, whose companies have occupied leading roles in Caspian energy projects since the 1990s.

The study allowed us to conclude that both the parties to the agreement and the non-regional countries with geopolitical and geo-economic interests in the Caspian Region perceived the termination of the border dispute between Baku and Ashgabat in the Caspian Sea basin as a necessary condition for preparing for the construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline and connecting the market of Turkmen hydrocarbon products with Europe. At the same time, taking into account that the construction of new pipelines in the Caspian Sea depends on a significant number of factors, both economic and non-economic, the author highlights other areas of possible impact of the Turkmen-Azerbaijani Memorandum of Understanding on the geo-economic and geopolitics situation in the Caspian region. The article also suggests measures that will allow Russia to maintain its influence in the Caspian economic growth and regional cooperation under the current conditions.

In the series of articles, the author analyzes recent domestic and foreign policy trends that significantly affect the current state and prospects for further development of the fuel and energy sectors of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – the Central Asian states with significant reserves of hydrocarbon raw materials. This article is devoted to the current situation in the fuel and energy sector of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The unfolding process of aggravation of geopolitical and geo-economic competition on the world stage significantly increases the level of risks, actualizes the previous and generates new problems of economic development of the Central Asian republic. The author assesses the impact of these processes on the prospects of foreign policy and foreign economic development strategies and regional stability. Separately, the author considers and evaluates the main problems existing in the fuel and energy complex of the republic, and indicates promising areas for their possible resolution and mitigation. In the context of global geopolitical turbulence, the region, which faces numerous challenges and threats to economic and socio-political stability, finds itself in a situation of excessive dependence on global players in the global geo-economic field.

Consequently, such a region will have to adjust the previously established models of economic development and foreign policy positioning.

The main problems of the formation of the common electricity market of the EAEU are considered. The characteristic of the main measures aimed at ensuring the electric power integration is given. By analyzing the main indicators of the electric power industry of the EAEU member states, the specific, strengths and weaknesses of the national electricity markets are identified. It is established that there is a surplus of electricity in the EAEU. At the same time, it is shown that the installed generating capacity of the EAEU has the potential to increase the volume of electricity generation. It is revealed that the EAEU electric power industry is able to meet the growing needs of the member states with the development of long-term export strategies, which will contribute to the stabilization of electricity prices on the internal markets of the member states. It is established that the construction of the «North-South» electric power corridor will provide Armenia with an opportunity to enter the EAEU electric power markets, overcoming the existing «infrastructural isolation». The risks and costs of liberalization are considered as an important precondition for the formation of a common EAEU electricity market. It is shown that the main obstacle to the formation of a common market is the lack of a common vision of liberalization of national markets among the member countries. The risks of liberalization of the electric power market in Armenia are considered, taking into account the export opportunities of the Armenian power system.

Nowadays a lot of attention is paid to environmental protection and the European Union is no exception. While implementing a policy in the energy sector, the EU cares primarily about the environment. That is why the European Union is the community that actively develops alternative energy sources. Despite existing disagreements between the member countries, the policy can be considered successful. In addition, in 2019, the European Union, like the whole world, was affected by COVID-19. Despite the fact that the current epidemiological situation had a negative impact on the energy sector, the EU seeks to improve the current situation through government payments and subsidies. This policy allows the participating countries to continue developing their energy sector. While studying the interdependence of the environmental and energy spheres, it is important to note that the European Union has a successfully operating legislation that allows you to control the level of environmental pollution and prevent energy policy from preceding ecology. The main direction of the energy policy of the European Union at the moment is the creation of a unified market. Such aspirations are due to the fact that the fundamental principle of the union‘s existence and functioning is integration. However, the idea of creating a unified market in the near future is not feasible, since there are numerous disagreements among the participating countries. France is an example of such an approach, caring primarily about its national interests and, therefore, there have developed their own energy program. Nevertheless, the European Union strives to pursue a quality policy in the energy sector, paying special attention to the disagreements of the participating countries, environmental issues, and existing crises.