ABSTRACT
The chapter is devoted to the Russian role in the processes of regional integration and bilateral liberalization. The study is based on the spectrum of economic and also political science approaches to the problems of regionalism and regionalization. The author investigates the motives and estimates the effects of Russia’s participation in several integration projects (real and potential), making the accent on the Eurasian economic union of five countries - Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Russia. The conducted analysis helps to understand why Russian leaders prefer traditional model of regional integration, and not the concept of open regionalism. The author comes to the conclusion that the customs union as a form of integration has potential advantages for Russia and some other countries of Eurasian economic union, however, Ukrainian crisis and related events seriously limit the realization of this potential.
