No 1 (2022)

The paper deals with the analysis of the essential documents of the World Trade Organization (WTO), fiscal and financial requirements, and restrictions contained in them, which influence international trade. Based on the analysis, the authors made an effort to group the principles of institutional international trade relations, relevant tools, and mechanisms of their implementation, highlighting the exceptions. The paper analyzes Russian foreign economic activity indices for 2011–2020 in the context of the total volume of international trade, relative dynamics of indices, international partners (foreign countries); critically evaluates the statistical data on net export. The authors consider the application of WTO’s tools to support Russian export potential during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic spreading. The paper lists the countries and export goods, in respect of which the intentions to introduce restrictive measures were adjusted, and the states employed the heaviest restrictions on Russian commodities. The authors conclude that due to the trade liberalization, the developed and large-scale economies, ready for the radical tariff restrictions reduction, gain foremost; the restrictions adversely affect countries, which do not have production facilities; negative outcomes emerge for a country imposing restrictions when exporting raw materials. The reduction of import goods tariffs for the less developed countries causes the exclusion of native manufacturers from the country’s local market, the decline in manufacturing. The authors sum up the conclusions about the WTO’s role in international trade. WTO principles aim to develop trade relations between countries, but the participants should have relevant commercial intentions. Based on the analysis of statistical indicators, the authors specify the problems and prospects of Russian trade relations, including those involved in the change of countries-stakeholders. A local domestic market where competitiveness persists mainly due to customer intimacy becomes prevailing for primary sales.

Aggravating the environmental and social problems caused an active introduction of ESG-principles in international practice, according to which, when operating, the economic entities should take into account the influence of their activity on the environment and society. In this context, the research and finding ways to develop such financial instruments that can help stimulate economic entities to implement ESG-projects aimed at sustainable development goals are significant. The paper analyzes data on the securities traded on the Russian stock market and granted green credits, considers the existing evaluations of the Russian market share in the world market. The study shows that currently, the domestic practice uses far fewer types of instruments of sustainable development financing, which is caused by the existence of some barriers highlighted and analyzed by authors. As a result of the study, the authors systematized factors limiting the development of this market and proposed their classification according to four thematic groups (methodological, economic-legal, political, and social-psychological) and in the context of their influence on the activity of issuers and investors in the sphere of sustainable development. The study shows that methodological and economic-legal factors, among which are the absence of unified standards of financial instruments verification and techniques of ESG-effectiveness evaluation, greenwashing, the deficient supply of financing instruments, normative legal base requiring additional review, and the deficiency of current financial incentive for market participants, have the greatest impact on the market. The solution to the described problems is a high-priority task facing the market members and regulatory authorities.

Due to the increased degree of aggression of environmental factors accompanied by the inversion of cooperation with foreign partners, intensification of lobbying their illusory interests, inadequate attitude to our country within the international community, and, on the whole, a strongly pronounced progressing tendency for strengthening a unipolarity system of international relations, it is possible to speak about their pathogenic nature of influence on the endogenous component of the entire national economy. Considering these circumstances, today we are witnessing a serious perturbation of business climate on the scale of national borders manifested by the growth of prices for raw materials, equipment, components and, consequently, by the effect of direct influence on the cost of the finished goods, logistic chains failure, the decrease in credit availability, the outflow of investments, and various embargos. This situation results from the policy of so-called unfriendly countries, which has a sanction tendency and, in general, restrictive nature. In return, it threatens the ability to continue the functioning of companies in the Russian market in the foreseeable future. In such conditions, it is important to have proven, complete, and reliable information about this component of the company’s activities on time. The audit aims to ensure a high level of qualitative and quantitative information parameters. The dual character of audit, on the one hand, ensures post-assessment, and on the other hand, has predictive power. Taking into account the provisions of normative legal acts regulating auditing activities in the Russian Federation, as well as considering the leading domestic and international auditing practice, the authors present a model for checking an audited entity for compliance with the fundamental going concern principle. A detailed examination of each audit stage allowed giving the optimal critical assessment of the conventional audit system in this area both highlighting the gaps caused by the lack of highly effective analytical procedures for the confirmation of the business permanence of an audited entity and pointing out certain imperfections of the Russian accounting practice.