Public governance

This report examines governance frameworks to counter illicit trade. It looks at the adequacy and effectiveness of sanctions and penalties applicable, the steps parties engaged in illicit trade take to lower the risk of detection - for example through small shipments - and the use of free trade zones as hubs for managing trade in illicit products. It also identifies gaps in enforcement that may need to be addressed. The report provides an overview of selected enforcement issues in BRICS economies (Brazil, China, India, the Russian Federation and South Africa).

A major challenge facing the Republic of Buryatia, subject of the Russian Federation, is how to balance the task of protecting Lake Baikal – a unique water object and ecological system included in the UNESCO list of World Natural Heritage Areas – with the need for dynamic and sustainable socio-economic development of the republic.  This requires streamlining and improving water policy jointly with economic, administrative, information and other policy instruments. The recommendations in this report aim to help achieve this objective. They include the introduction of abstraction charges for irrigation water as a  natural resource; enhancement of state support to the water sector; and improvement of economic instruments for managing risks of water-related hazards (such as compulsory insurance and differentiated land tax rates in flood prone areas). A few innovative instruments are also recommended for pilot testing such as establishing limits for discharges of certain hazardous substances in a pilot area (e.g. Selenga river basin) and progressive development of market for tradable quotas for discharges of the 'capped' pollutants; and introducing a charge (tax) on toxic agricultural chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, etc.) and synthetic detergents so that to create incentives for the reduction of diffuse water pollution.

Bringing together the city of Krasnoyarsk and six adjacent smaller cities and rural districts, the Krasnoyarsk Agglomeration is increasingly emerging as the main economic hub of Eastern Siberia. Its relative weight in both population and economic activity continues to grow. This review examines the Agglomeration’s performance and potential, particularly with reference to such critical challenges as internal and external connectivity, human capital formation and innovation. These issues are analysed in the context of Krasnoyarsk’s unusual economic geography, which involves tremendous natural wealth, but also remote location, severe climatic conditions and relatively low density of settlement. Its experience is thus relevant to many remote, resource-rich regions across the globe.