Economic Relations Between Russia and the South Caucasian De Facto States of the Post-Soviet Space: Problems and Areas of Cooperation

The article examines economic relations between Russia and the South Caucasian de facto states of the post-Soviet space, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in order to determine the main areas of cooperation and identify problems that hinder or impede more effective economic cooperation between the countries. The author proposes a periodization of economic relations between the countries in three periods. In each of the three periods, both general and specific problems of economic relations between the countries are identified. The retrospective and comparative analyses used in the study allowed us to draw the following conclusions: for Russia, economic cooperation is part of its geostrategic presence in the South Caucasus and ensuring the security of its borders, while for the de facto states such cooperation is of an existential nature; Russian-Abkhazian cooperation is defined as associated between two equal entities, and assimilated Russian-South Ossetia cooperation is established as acting in the opposite format. Different formats of economic relations are due to the different vectors in the foreign policy of the South Caucasian de facto states of the post-Soviet space. The Republic of Abkhazia strives for independence and political separation, while South Ossetia is focused on joining Russia.