Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Processes of Convergence and Divergence in the Russian-Ukrainian Border Area

  • BORDER STUDIES
  • Published:
Regional Research of Russia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper focuses on the analysis of convergence and divergence as modern social and economic processes on the territory of the Russian-Ukrainian borderline. The authors on both sides of the border draw special attention to the evolution of integration and disintegration processes in the border regions, both in the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods of relations between two countries. The 2004–2018 period has been chosen for the current research as it includes dramatic processes of convergence and divergence in the Russian-Ukrainian border area. Particular attention is given to the analysis of a set of relevant factors affecting the dynamics and transformation of the social and economic landscape of the border regions of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine; the main trends of geopolitical contradictions are highlighted as well, the vulnerable links of the territorial socioeconomic systems of border areas, both in a resettlement and in the economic sense, are identified. Socioeconomic factors of convergence and divergence are estimated and evaluated in order to develop the idea of interconnection and interaction of the borderline territories. The authors point at the asymmetry in demographic, migration and economic correlations which are reflected in the transformations and deformations of border regions after the year 2014. The processes of convergence and divergence of demographic and economic indicators of the border administrative divisions of the Russian Federation and the Ukraine are analyzed based on the current statistical materials and calculated integral indicators (coefficient of variation and Theil index) using a comparative approach. The processes of divergence both in the economic and social spheres at equal pace prevailed during the above-mentioned period of time. In conclusion, the authors infer that disintegration processes contribute to the increase of the divergence of the Russian-Ukrainian border area and disrupt the common market for goods, capital, services, and labor that has developed over a long period of time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Adamov, B.I., Berdnikov, I.A., Berezhnaya, T.F., et al., Transgranichnoe ukrainsko-rossiiskoe sotrudnitshestvo: formy, metody, perspektivy. Monografiya (Cross-border Ukrainian-Russian Cooperation: Forms, Methods, Prospects. Monograph), Dubnitsky, V.I. and Lyashenko, V. I., Eds., Donetsk: Yugo-Vostok, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bates-Eamer, N. and Hallgrímsdóttir, H.K., BIG (Borders in Globalization): Borders and bordering processes in the Pacific Northwest, J. Borderlands Stud., 2020, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 497–503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bezopasnost’ i mezhdunarodnoe sotrudnidnichestvo v poyase novykh granits Rossii (Security and International Cooperation in the Belt of New Borders of Russia), Vardomsky, L.B. and Golunov, S.V., Eds., Moscow, Volgograd: NOFMO, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bublikov, V.V., Aspects of identity of the Russian-Ukrainian population in the border areas of Russia, Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie, 2019, no. 6, pp. 146–164. https://doi.org./10.31857/S086954150007772-9

  5. Burnasov, A., Ilyushkina, M., Kovalev, Y., Stepanov, A., Convergence and divergence processes in regional development, Stud. Ind. Geogr. Commission of the Polish Geogr. Soc., 2014, no. 26: Transformations of Regional Structures under Economic Crisis Conditions, pp. 25–30.

  6. Chernomaz, P.A., The experience of cross-border cooperation in the realities of the Ukrainian-Russian border area, in Rossiya: tendentsii i perspektivy razvitiya. Yezhegodnik (Russia: Trends and Development Prospects. Yearbook), Moscow: Inst. Nauch. Inf. po Obshchestv. Naukam Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2017, vol. 12, part 1, pp. 415–419.

  7. Chernomaz, P.A., The construction of a “smart border” between Russia and Ukraine as a mechanism to increase the efficiency of its crossing, in Sovremennye problemy sotsial’no-ekonomicheskogo razvitiya Rossii: materialy Mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii: v dvukh tomakh (Modern Problems of Socioeconomic Development of Russia: Proc. Int. Conf.: in 2 Vols.) (Belgorod, 2011), Belgorod: Bel. Gos. Univ., 2011, Vol. 1, pp. 148–151.

  8. Chernomaz, P.A., Cross-border cooperation in Ukrainian-Russian relations (on the example of the Euroregion “Slobozhanshchina”), in Ekonomicheskoe vzaimodeistvie stran–chlenov SNG v kontekste Evraziiskogo integratsionnogo proekta: Sbornik nauchnykh statei (Economic Interaction of the CIS Countries in the Context of the Eurasian Integration Project: Collection of Scientific Articles), Vardomsky, L.B. and Pylin, A.G., Eds., Moscow: Inst. Ekon. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2015, pp. 144–156.

  9. Chernomaz, P.A., “Smart border” on the Ukrainian-Russian border area: A pipe dream or an urgent need?, Perspektivy skoordinirovannogo sotsial’no-ekonomicheskogo razvitiya Rossii i Ukrainy v obshcheevropeiskom kontekste. Trudy Vtoroi mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii (Prospects for the Coordinated Socioeconomic Development of Russia and Ukraine in the Pan-European Context. Proc. Second Int. Sci. and Pract. Conf.), Moscow: Inst. Nauch. Inf. po Obshchestv. Naukam Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2014, pp. 590–592.

  10. Fedorov, G.M., On the international “development corridors” and their formation in the border regions of the Russian Federation, Reg. Issled., 2018, vol. 61, no. 3, pp. 76–83.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Fritsch, T., Konvergenz und Divergenz im europäischen Integrationsprozess, in EU-Osterweiterung und Migration, München: Grin Verlag Nordestedt, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Golikov, A.P., and Chernomaz, P.A., Euroregion “Slobozhanshchina” and cross-border cooperation between Ukraine and Russia, in Transgranichnye problemy stran SNG (Cross-border problems of the CIS countries), Kotlyakov, V.M., Ed., Moscow: Opus, 2003, pp. 208–210.

  13. Golikov, A.P. and Chernomaz, P.A., The Ukrainian-Russian Euroregion “Slobozhanschina” as a form of interregional integration, Euras. Econ. Integration, 2014, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 85–98.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gritsay, O.V., Ioffe, G.V., and Treivish, A.I., Tsentr i periferiya v regionalnom razvitii (Center and Periphery in Regional Development), Moscow: Nauka, 1991.

  15. Iveta, M.R., State, community, and identity borders – challenges for research on Russians, Ukrainians, and Ruthenians in the Republic of Croatia, Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie, 2021, no. 6, pp. 146–164. https://doi.org./10.31857/S086954150017939-2

  16. Kaczmarek-Khubnaia, J., Powiazania gospodarcze panstw posradzieckich na przykladzie bezposrednichinwestycij zagranicznych, Prace KomisijGeografii Przemyslu Polskiego Towarzystwa Geograficznego, 2017, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 120–132. https://doi.org./10/24917/20801653.314.8

  17. Klein, C. and Krüger, L., Regionen in Europa, in Schriftenreihe des Zentrums für europäische Studien, Trier: Universität Trier, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Lang, W., Der internationale Regionalismus: Integration und Desintegration von Staatenbeziehungen in weltweiter Verflechtung (Forschungen aus Staat und Recht), Wien: Springer, 1982.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Lanzieri, G., Is fertility converging across the member states of the European Union?, Eurostat, Work Session on Demographic Projections, Lisbon, 2010, p. 111.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Newman, D., Borders and bordering: Towards an interdisciplinary dialogue, Eur. J. Soc. Theory, 2006, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 171–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Martinez, O.J., Border People: Life and Society in the U.S.-Mexico Borderland, Tucson: Univ. of Arizona Press, 1994, pp. 5–10.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  22. Mitrany, D., A Working Peace System, New York, 1943.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Newrly, P., Transnationaler Regionalismus, Münster: Verlag, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Ohmae, K., The Borderless World: Power and Strategy in the Interlinked Economy, New York: Harper Collins, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Popkova, L., Comparative analysis of urban settlement of the Russian and Ukrainian border area, 13th Int. Sci. Conf. “Analysis of International Relations,” Popkova, L., Szkutnik, W., Sączewska-Piotrowska, A., Hadaś-Dyduch, M., and Acedański, J., Eds., Katowice: Univ. of Economics in Katowice, 2020, p. 115–126.

  26. Popkova, L. and Popkova, A., Evolution of urban settlement in Russian-Ukrainian border zone, in The Social Transformation of the Cities and Regions in the Post-Communist Countries, Mądry, C., Ed., Poznan: Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukove, 2014, pp. 193–209.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Popkova, L.I., Geographiya naseleniya rossisko-ukrainskogo prigranichya (Geography of the Population of the Russian-Ukrainian Border Area), Smolensk: Universum, 2005a.

  28. Popkova, L.I., Border space as a special type of territory (the case of the Russian-Ukrainian border), Izv. Russ. Geog. O-va (RGO), 2005b, vol. 137, no. 1, pp. 83–89.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Popkova, L.I., Transformation processes in the socio-economic space of the Russian-Ukrainian border area, in Rossiya: tendentsii i perspektivy razvitiya. Yezhegodnik (Russia: Trends and Development Prospects. Yearbook), Gerasimov, V.I., Ed., Moscow: Inst. Nauch. Inf. po Obshchestv. Naukam Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2019, pp. 223–225.

  30. Regionalizatsiya vneshneekonomicheskikh svyazei v Rossii i sopredel’nykh stranakh (Regionalization of Foreign Economic Relations in Russia and Neighboring Countries), Vardomsky, L.B. and Pylin, A.G., Eds., Moscow: Inst. Ekon. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Rossiiskoe pogranich’e: vyzovy sosedstva (Russian Border Area: Challenges of the Neighborhood), Kolosov, V.A., Ed., Moscow: IP Matushkina I.I., 2018.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Rossiisko-Ukrainskoe pogranich’e: dvadtsat’ let razdelennogo edinstva (Russian-Ukrainian Border Area: Twenty Years of Divided Unity), Kolosov, V.A. and Vendina, O.I., Eds., Moscow: Novyi Chronograph, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Rybakovsky, O.L. and Tayunova, O.A., Fertility of the population of Russia and demographic waves, Narodonaselenie, 2017, no. 4, pp. 56–66. https://doi.org/10.26653/1561-7785-2017-4-4

  34. Ukrainsko-rossiiske transkordonne spivrobitniztvo: sutshasnii stan i perspektivy. Monografiya (Ukrainian-Russian Cross-Border Cooperation: Current Status and Prospects. Monograph), Golikov, A.P., Ed., Kharkiv: Kharkiv. Nats. Univ. im. V.N. Karazina, 2013.

  35. Van de Kaa, D.J., Is the Second Demographic Transition a useful research concept? Questions and answers, Vienna Yearbook for Population Res., 2004, vol. 2, no. 1, pp.  4–10.

  36. Vardomsky, L.B., Cross-border cooperation on the “new and old” borders of Russia, Evraz. Ekon. Integratsiya, 2008, no. 1, pp. 90–108.

  37. Vardomsky, L.B., Rossiiskoe porubezh’e v usloviyakh globalizatsii (Russian Border Area in the Context of Globalization), Moscow: LIBROCOM, 2009.

  38. Zayats, M.V., Impact of crisis in Russia–Ukraine relations on cross-border interactions in Belgorod oblast, Izv. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Ser. Geogr., 2017, no. 5, pp. 42–56.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kursk State University, Kursk, Russia

    L. I. Popkova

  2. V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine

    P. A. Chernomaz

  3. Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia

    M. Y. Ilyushkina & A. V. Stepanov

Authors
  1. L. I. Popkova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. A. Chernomaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Y. Ilyushkina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. V. Stepanov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to L. I. Popkova, P. A. Chernomaz, M. Y. Ilyushkina or A. V. Stepanov.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Popkova, L.I., Chernomaz, P.A., Ilyushkina, M.Y. et al. Processes of Convergence and Divergence in the Russian-Ukrainian Border Area. Reg. Res. Russ. 12, 574–588 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970522700162

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970522700162

Keywords:

Search

Navigation