European international financial organizations are investors in the real sector of Ukraine’s economy

The article highlights the historical aspects of Ukraine's cooperation with two international financial institutions, which provide Ukraine with significant credit resources: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank. The structure of these institutions, the purpose of their work, means and methods of achieving the goals defined in the statutory documents were considered. The cooperation of Ukraine with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank on the implementation of investment projects in the public and private sectors was studied, the peculiarities of the project implementation were analysed and the factors that impact low disbursement were investigated. Attention is drawn to the importance of using investments from international financial organizations in full and the importance of further close cooperation with institutions that provide credit resources to Ukraine in periods when the state does not actively cooperate with the IMF. Generalised suggestions for improving Ukraine's cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank were prepared, separately for each bank, the steps that need to be taken to increase the disbursement of loans for investment projects implemented in Ukraine with international financial organizations were listed.

IFIs undertake financing when their environmental and social quality criteria are met

The main content of this article is to describe “climate finance” and “green finance” in detail, as implemented by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and their pertinent environmental and social project quality criteria. The approach of this article is to perceive and understand environment-related activities of international financial institutions (IFIs) as part of a societal learning process, and consequently to describe their “environmental and social project quality criteria” as an expression of such ongoing societal learning processes. What can our readership, related to global finance, profit from such a comparison? Against the expectation of many, IFIs already implemented efficient rules for redirecting global funds to climate and environmental projects — and have thus performed a successful “act of societal learning”. The “environmental and social project quality criteria” have played a crucial role in convincing economic and administrative actors (i. e., learners in our context) to behave in a climatecompatible manner. Thus, the lesson can be drawn from the domain of “societal learning” to the domain of “individual learning” that clear and transparent criteria sets are decisive for a rule-based societal transformation. This article shows that a criteriabased selection process provides the best results for long-term societal interest; in this case climate protection.

On the Legitimacy and Effectivity of the World Bank and Its Pandenic Emergency Financing Facility (‘PEF’) at the Time of the covid-19 Outbreak

Pandemic financing has in the current climate of disruption and turmoil of an ongoing global pandemic become the most highly debated and controversial issue within the field of international public health law and policy. From the perspective of international public health law and policy, a precondition for success is that financial resources and funds are employed in an effective manner. Whether the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (‘World Bank’ or ‘WB’) and the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (‘PEF’) – a financing mechanism housed at the WB – may be perceived as effective public health players shall be established by referring to their mandates, their inherent capacity for enhancing accepted global legal standards and rules on public health and their funding methods and practices. After the affirmation and consolidation of its role in the public health sector in the early 1990s, the WB has rapidly accredited itself as the most active intergovernmental institution dealing with pandemic and epidemic financing. Its direct involvement in public health trust funds, such as the Avian Flu Trust Fund Facility and the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Multi-Donor Fund (the HEPRF), and its lending practices and internal policies and procedures were of crucial significance in this respect. Considering that acceptance of international institutions, including international financial institutions, has always been conditioned by their acknowledgment as legally legitimate, legitimacy is regarded as closely connected to effectiveness. The criteria for establishing legitimacy in relation to international financial institutions are increasingly, amongst others, the respect and promotion of rule of law standards in the recipient states. From this perspective, the WB’s functional and management structures, but not the PEF’s structures and management, have made noteworthy progress, and notwithstanding some deficiencies and peculiarities they present several elements of legitimate decision-making.

Supportive tactics for innovative and sustainability performance in emerging SMEs

For this research, we examined the influence of access to domestic and international financing on sustainability performance with a mediating role of innovative performance and a moderating role of access to government support. Data were collected from 317 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through structured questionnaires. The results indicated that access to domestic and international financing significantly contributes to sustainability and innovative performances. Accordingly, we found a partial mediating role of innovative performance between access to domestic financing and sustainability performance as well as between access to international financing and sustainability performance. Access to government support significantly moderates the relationship between access to domestic finances and innovative performance as well as between access to international finances and innovative performance. Practitioners and policymakers should encourage national and international financial institutions and banks to facilitate SMEs by lending them funds for innovative activities and sustainability performance. Moreover, the government should support SMEs, so that they can contribute to economic growth and the gross domestic product. The implications from these matters will be further discussed in this paper.

Circular law as a legal basis for a circular economy

The article is devoted to the study of the legal basis for the development of the circular economy, clarifying the essence of the concept of circular law, and analysis of international and national legal acts in this area. Research has shown humanity’s awareness of modern global threats and its gradual movement from the traditional to circular economic model. The legal basis for such a transition lies in circular law, which is a set of legal norms that define and regulate social relations in the field of circular economy. The article explores legal acts in the field of circular economy at the universal, regional and national levels across the globe. The main purpose of the article is to analyze the legal basis for the development of the circular economy. International law is currently being enriched with a number of new legal acts devoted to this subject matter. This may indicate the emergence of a new branch of international law – a circular law. An increased attention of international financial institutions towards financing of circular projects stipulates the further development and spread of the circular concept.

Priorities of public debt policy and security of the national economy

The article examines the content of public debt policy as an object of economic security in terms of methodological and practical aspects based on the assessment of debt sustainability using a system of indicators. The authors raise the issue of the need to develop a public debt management mechanism, to search for new strategies and tools, including by strengthening the functional role of international financial institutions.

THE MECHANISM OF AGRICULTURE SUPPORT FUNDS FUNCTIONING

Agriculture support funds is one of the variants for supporting agricultural producers, incl. budgetary functioning, worldwide. The main sources of formation and activities of agriculture support funds (in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Armenia) were analyzed. The research is based on the official information materials for establishment and functioning of such funds (regulatory legal acts, articles of association, corporate documents, financial statements, etc.). The following conclusions were made as the result of the analysis: agriculture support funds may include own capital and attracted resources, investors' facilities and funds of international financial institutions. The main area of activity of agriculture support funds is financing agricultural producers on various bases - lending and microcredit, investments, subsidies, leasing programs. It is possible to distinguish three options for the financial resources movement through agricultural support funds, depending on the role assigned to the fund in this mechanism – source of financial resources, the State agent or investor.

Do Hybrid Legal Systems Matter in Foreign Legal-Aid Programmes? Some Philosophical Aspects of Legal Aid in Uzbekistan as Provided by the Donor States

Since the fall of socialism in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and some states of Southeast Asia, the international financial institutions and individual donor states have initiated wide-scale legal-aid programmes to assist these states in their transition from socialism to a market economy. Whereas the aid from financial institutions vis-à-vis recipient states is often agreed upon specific conditionalities, the donor states design their foreign legal aid according to individual preferences, although sometimes with references to universal goals. Currently, various donor states provide legal aid to Uzbekistan. Given the fact that Uzbekistan is the former Soviet Republic that still bears multiple traces of a socialist legal system and additionally integrates indigenous informal law, this research provides an analysis of how different donor states base their legal-aid activities on entirely different philosophies and levels of gravity, and how receptive the hybrid structure of Uzbekistan’s law is towards such aid.