Russia’s use of its vast energy resources for leverage against post-Soviet states such as Ukraine is widely recognized as a threat. Yet we cannot understand this danger without also understanding the opportunity that Russian energy represents. From corruption-related profits to transportation-fee income to subsidized prices, many within these states have benefited by participating in Russian energy exports. To understand Russian energy power in the region, it is necessary to look at the entire value chain—including production, processing, transportation, and marketing—and at the full spectrum of domestic and external actors involved, from Gazprom to regional oligarchs to European Union regulators. This book follows Russia’s three largest fossil-fuel exports—natural gas, oil, and coal—from production in Siberia through transportation via Ukraine to final use in Germany in order to understand the tension between energy as threat and as opportunity. Margarita M. Balmaceda reveals how this dynamic has been a key driver of political development in post-Soviet states in the period between independence in 1991 and Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. She analyzes how the physical characteristics of different types of energy, by shaping how they can be transported, distributed, and even stolen, affect how each is used—not only technically but also politically. Both a geopolitical travelogue of the journey of three fossil fuels across continents and an incisive analysis of technology’s role in fossil-fuel politics and economics, this book offers new ways of thinking about energy in Eurasia and beyond.

This book presents the contributions from the 2nd International Conference Engineering Innovations and Sustainable Development, held in Samara, Russia on April 20–21, 2023. By presenting international research on various sustainability issues, it includes topics such as current trends in industrial and agricultural development, innovations in the construction and transport sectors, problems concerning the financing of innovative activities and governmental support for innovations, and engineering competences and skills in the era of new technologies. It also covers the economic, environmental, and informational aspects of sustainable development in the context of innovations. Finally, the book addresses theoretical and practical aspects by studying the phenomenon of sustainability and engineering development in terms of comparing international experiences. It provides significant value for scientists, teachers, and students of higher educational institutions, and specialists, who are researching sustainable development issues in the era of engineering innovations.