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The Caspian region is one from the most oil- and gas-rich regions in the world. The estimated oil and gas reserves are believed to be around 16 billion tons. The geological location of the most perspective oil and gas fields at the Caspian shelf determines the policy of littoral states concerning the legal status of the basin which has not been solved yet. Oil- and gas-rich Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have proposed the division of the Caspian Sea into five sectors according to terrestrial border points. The Russian Federation and Iran (without real oil and gas perspectives in their believed sectors) are opposing this attitude and are insisting on a common use of the Caspian Sea in condominium. As a matter of fact, the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons is going on, controlled by international oil and gas companies. The main technical problem to solve is the lack of transportation opportunities, as the construction of new pipelines from the region so as to access world markets is needed. Russia and Turkey are those most active in this question, followed by Georgia and Iran. The proposed oil pipelines through Russian or Georgian territories are to be terminated at Black Sea ports from where oil should be transported by supertankers, passing thus the Bosporus - Dardanelles Straits and in a case of accident then jeopardising 12 millions of inhabitants of Istanbul. Therefore and also from political reasons Turkey has proposed to build up a pipeline to Turkish Mediterranean oil terminal of Ceyhan. The Turkish position is backed by the USA looking for cutting of the Russian influence in the Caspian Region. Due to technical and political reasons, it seems the most probable that all of the three proposed routes for oil will be constructed in ten years, if the output of oil will be as high as it is expected today. (SOI : MO: S. 307)

Aus slowakischer Sicht

The article analyses the changes in norm enforcement in the EU that were triggered by the Eurozone crisis. It attempts to demonstrate that the Eurozone crisis contributed to a 'transplantation' of conditionality instruments (which traditionally exist within the EU's external relations) into the internal operations of the European Union. In particular, the article identifies which new internal rule-enforcement mechanisms of the EU share common structural features with the external EU conditionality (e.g. a vague legal framework; the use of the expertise of non-EU actors; an excess of competencies conferred to the EU; the institutional weakening of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Court of Justice; the format of the sanctions). The article comes to the conclusion that the formation of the EU's internal conditionality occurred mainly within the instruments aimed at the crisis management of public finances of the Eurozone states (the EFSF, the EFSM, and the ESM), but it also concludes that there was an expansion of the new EU conditionality into other areas of the European integration, such as the Schengen cooperation and cohesion policy. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the commercial diplomacy of Ukraine on its export. Within this field of research we mutually compare various official representations abroad and their effects on export flows. We consider embassies, consulates general and honorary consulates as commercial diplomacy actors abroad. The main contribution of the paper is that it is the first empirical study of Ukrainian commercial diplomacy in terms of export promotion. We use an empirical trade model to verify the impact of economic, cultural, geographical and diplomatic factors on Ukrainian exports. The panel data incorporates 1386 export flows to 198 destinations during the period from 2007 to 2013. In the end, we conclude that embassies are more relevant instruments of export stimulation than consulates general or honorary consulates. Adapted from the source document.