EAEU Countries in the International Development Assistance Framework

The article addresses the issue of official development aid in the EAEU, which is rarely tackled in the Russian academic literature despite geopolitical and economic importance of the union for Russia. Based on the OECD DAC data from 1992 to 2017 article analyses volumes of ODA in the EAEU and its breakdown by recipients, donors, instruments and channels, and compares EAEU structure with the global structure. Furthermore, this article discusses directions of aid and their correspondence with EAEU recipient countries’ (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) priorities. It concludes that, first, in Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan ODA corresponds with their strategic priorities and second, that in more developed EAEU recipient countries (Kazakhstan and Belarus) areas, where ODA might be of practical value for the solving of global problems, are infrastructure and climate change. The author also presents classification of donor countries on the base of donor motives and position of EAEU donor countries in it (Russia and Kazakhstan), as well as effectiveness of aid from the donor’s point of view. Based on the conducted analysis author provides priority recommendations on improvement of ODA efficiency in EAEU, including streamlining of Russia’s ODA and development of sectoral and geographic priorities.