Suchergebnisse

In the first half of 2022, Japan joined the G7 countries with tough anti-Russian sanctions. Japan, at the same time, took a unique position concerning the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 oil and gas projects, even though the international companies ExxonMobil and Shell decided to withdraw. After Russia's retaliatory steps, the Japanese side accepted new conditions considering the balance between the logic of the confrontation and the requirements of economic security. This article discusses some of the economic and energy aspects of Japan's challenge, such as the diversification of energy supplies, importance of liquefied natural gas (LNG), specifics of Sakhalin projects, and competition of Northeast Asian countries in the global energy markets. Despite particular successes in the diversification of energy imports, the overall situation in the Japanese energy and LNG sector remains unstable. Sakhalin supplies account for 7-8 % of Japan's LNG; however, the proximity of the location and other terms give them much greater importance. The simulation results for replacing Sakhalin LNG with American gas suggest a deterioration in diversification indicators for Japan. Moreover, the redirection of Sakhalin LNG to China will strengthen its competitive position. Consequently, internal and external factors support Japan's continued involvement in the Sakhalin shelf. Unfortunately, outside the two Sakhalin and one Arctic LNG projects, there are currently no realistic prospects for further energy cooperation between Japan and Russia.

The article is devoted to the Bleiburg myth in the politics of memory in modern Croatia. In mid-May 1945 the contingents which were trying to move to the West and avoid the possible reprisals against them by the victorious communists were transferred to the Yugoslav partisans by the British military administration. Among them prevailed the members of Croatian Ustasha and Slovene Home Guard, but there were also representatives of other nationalities of Yugoslavia. Soon after the war all the victims of the massacres that took place in 1945 and those who died from hunger and illness during the transfer were Croatized through the efforts of the Croatian emigration. After the collapse of Yugoslavia and during the war (1991–1995), the Bleiburg myth began to acquire official status. The return of Ustasha soldiers as heroes to the public sphere under F. Tudjman was due to the concept of «national reconciliation», which was carried out not through awareness of guilt and acceptance of responsibility for the crimes committed, but through their full or partial justification.The first part of the article reviews the research literature on the Bleiburg myth, the stages of its formation and functional significance. The second part examines the public debate around the Sarajevo mass for the murdered and other commemorative events in the anniversary in May 2020. They are compared with the evaluations of the Bleiburg narrative-ritual complex expressed in the literature.The 75th anniversary of Bleiburg commemorated in an atmosphere of fatigue from the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic and on the eve of the Croatian parliamentary elections, demonstrated deep social division, the contested character of history and the political interest in discussing this tragedy. Comparison of the research literature with publications in the mass press indicates the obviousness of the functional model of the Bleiburg myth for a significant segment of Croatian society. Although the demand for renewal of the memorial repertoire seems to have increased, it is still not enough for the transition to the new politics of memory.

This article discusses municipal self-government in Japan by focusing on tax receipts of local budgets. Revenues and expenditures of local governments of unitary states, such as Japan, roughly corresponds to subnational budgets of federal states. In unitary frameworks, however, local authorities enjoy greater autonomy. In Japan, local governments account for a large share of public spending and tax revenues. Tax re-venues are decentralised and taxes play a significant role in consolidated budget receipts. The centralised system of local administration and finance that evolved in late nineteenth-century Japan was based on arrangements prevailing in Germany at that time. In the second half of the twentieth century, the system of inter-governmental fiscal relations was rebuilt according to the Anglo-Saxon decentralised model, resulting in more autonomy (including tax administration) given to local authorities. The current version of the local public finance in Japan has several salient characteristics and combines both centralisation and decentralisation features. The tax base for the key prefectural and municipal taxes overlaps the tax base for the national income and consumption taxes. The main source of municipal revenue is the property tax. Financial equalisation is achieved through grants, essentially in the form of the local allocation tax (LAT), which is a percentage of national taxes that is channelled to prefectural and municipal budgets. Another important feature of local finance is that municipal governments cover a comparatively large share of expenditures by is-suing local bonds. The reform of local governance and inter-governmental fiscal relations conducted in the early 2000s increased the financial autonomy and tax receipts of municipalities. The reform's results were positively received by the international community and may be interesting for several transitional and developing economies that are seeking to improve their system of local finance.For citationPokrovskaia N.V., Belov A.V. Tax Revenues of Local Budgets in Unitary States: a Case Study of Japan. Journal of Tax Reform. 2020;6(1):73–89. DOI:10.15826/jtr.2020.6.1.076. Article infoReceived February 14, 2020; Revised March 15, 2020; Accepted April 8, 2020 ; Целью данной статьи является характеристика организации местного самоуправления и формирования доходной части местных бюджетов в Японии. Доходы и расходы местных бюджетов унитарных государств, включая Японию, примерно соответствуют субнациональным бюджетам федеративных стран, в то время как полномочия органов самоуправления в унитарных образованиях обычно шире. Для местных бюджетов Японии характерны высокая доля осуществляемых расходов и налоговых доходов, децентрализация налоговых поступлений и существенная роль налогов в совокупных бюджетных поступлениях. Система местных финансов Японии сформировалась в конце XIХ в. по прусскому образцу и носила централизованный характер. Со второй половины ХХ в. местные органы власти получили существенную автономию, в том числе налоговую. Построение системы межбюджетных отношений происходило по рекомендациям, ориентированным на англо-саксонскую децентрализованную модель местных финансов. В настоящее время японский вариант организации местных бюджетов имеет несколько специфических черт, к которым относится, прежде всего, параллельное сосуществование централизации и децентрализации. Кроме того, налоговая база по ключевым налогам префектур и муниципалитетов пересекается с национальными налогами на доходы и потребление. Основу доходной базы муниципалитетов составляет налог на имущество. Выравнивание бюджетной обеспеченности производится путем зачисления в бюджеты префектур и муниципалитетов местного распределительного налога, который представляет собой трансферт из поступлений по национальным налогам. Важной особенностью местных финансов Японии является сравнительно высокая доля расходов, финансируемая за счет муниципальных облигаций. И наконец, в начале 2000-х гг. в Японии была проведена реформа местного самоуправления и межбюджетных отношений, которая привела к повышению финансовой самостоятельности и налоговой обеспеченности муниципальных образований. Результаты реформы получили высокую оценку международного сообщества и с этой точки зрения могут представлять интерес для всех стран, занимающихся укреплением финансовых основ деятельности местных органов власти.Для цитированияПокровская Н.В., Белов А.В. Налоговые доходы местных бюджетов унитарного государства: опыт Японии // Journal of Tax Reform. – 2020. – Т. 6, № 1. – С. 73–89. – DOI:10.15826/jtr.2020.6.1.076.Информация о статьеДата поступления 14 февраля 2020 г.; дата поступления после рецензирования 15 марта 2020 г.; дата принятия к печати 8 апреля 2020 г.

The article reviews the diary of the Minister of War D.A. Miliutin, 1878– 1882. This period is marked by strengthening of Miliutin's position. By that time he became an important political figure who determined the national foreign policy. D.A. Miliutin was to solve a number of urgent problems both domestically and internationally. Until his resignation his main course of action was to avoid the possibility of international isolation for Russia again. Except Central Asiatic problem he was ready to compromise in order to solve the disputable questions about Balkans and Near East. Being an important source of historical information the Diary gives a clear picture of the politics supported by the minister-reformer D.A. Miliutin.

Despite the fact that the history of studying the geology of the achimov formation spans several decades, the volume of depletion of the reserves of these deposits is small, and the number of fields where the achimov formations have been put into commercial development is few. This is due to the complex geological structure of the reservoirs, vertical and lateral heterogeneity, reduced porosity and permeability properties, and low values of the oil saturation factor.In the presented work, a generalization and analysis of all petrophysical information was made, typification of sections according to well logging with the possibility of using individual petrophysical function to assess the nature of reservoir saturation and the hydrocarbon saturation index. To create a petrophysical substantiation of well logging interpretation, both historical and current core studies in the framework of this study by the authors of the article were involved.The typification of the sections of the achimov formation was carried out on the basis of a detailed lithological study of the core using special studies such as scanning electron microscopy and computed microtomography.Identification of different types of section will allow in the future to correct the further hydrodynamic model for predicting the nature of the inflow and will significantly increase the reliability of assessing the nature of saturation and the hydrocarbon saturation index of heterogeneous deposits of the achimov formation.