Financial Journal

p. 8-26

Authors: Liudmila S. Kabir

The purpose of the study is to systematize the main directions of the discussion that unfolded at the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai in November-December 2023 on the need to reform the financial mechanism of the UN climate convention. The relevance of this study is based on the fact that today the conditions have been formed to intensify Russia’s participation in the discussion at the international level on the goals and objectives of climate and sustainable finance, as there is growing dissatisfaction with the aggressive policy of developed countries trying to solve their development problems, including by distorting and replacing the global agenda previously agreed by the majority of the world's countries on the UN platform. The main conclusion of the study is as follows. When considering the problems of organization of both the climate finance mechanism and the sustainable finance mechanism in the context of the organization and functioning of the Technology Mechanism (UNFCCC) and the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (UN 2030 Agenda), embedded in the current discussion on the need to reform the financial mechanism of the UN climate convention, many issues related to the incorrectness, inconsistency and divergence of these concepts at the level of different countries can be effectively addressed by the UNFCCC. Returning the consideration of both climate and sustainable finance to the context of technological modernization tasks solved by society (as originally defined in the UN documents) will make it possible to return the process of transition of countries to a new sustainable development model to the original direction; to get rid of manipulations and substitution of concepts used by a group of developed countries; to reach consensus among all Parties to the Convention.

p. 43-58

Authors: Anton V. Navoy

Fragmentation of the global financial and economic space and difficulties in the organization of international settlements cause the restructuring of the international settlement system of the Russian Federation. Russia’s need for a reliable system of international settlements is due to its rapid involvement in the system of international trade, the need for high-tech imports, sales of raw materials and high-grade goods. One of the most promising options for a new design of payment infrastructure protected from sanctions pressure is the creation of an international payment system based on the peer-to-peer model using central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The Committee on Payment Infrastructures is actively theorizing this model. To date, the Russian Federation (digital ruble) and the People's Republic of China (digital yuan) demonstrate a high level of readiness to make settlements in the CBDC. The creation of a payment system based on CBDC fundamentally changes the entire landscape of international settlements, not only reducing the cost of transactions, but also ensuring their reliability, transparency and protection from the negative influence of other countries. Of particular interest is the model of clearing using CBDC in BRICS countries, which will allow for centralized netting of mutual positions of the countries in national currencies and gradual displacement of currencies of developed countries from mutual settlements.

p. 72-87

Authors: Natalya A. Khutorova

The spread of the sustainable development concept has given rise to sustainable finance, as well as the infrastructure of the financial and consulting industry of valuations, verifications and various databases in the field of ESG. This research is devoted to theoretical and practical study of the accumulated experience of ESG securitization transactions in order to systematize ESG financing instruments and directions of development of this sphere in modern conditions. The study showes that ESG securitization practices are being integrated into capital management processes in line with sustainable development goals, with the most developed centers in the USA, Europe and China. The study systematizes the main types of ESG securitized assets, gives their characteristics and identifies current trends. In Russia, despite its isolation from the world financial markets, the practice of ESG securitization is developing, covering new directions. The study notes the potential for the development of green mortgages, which will contribute to the activation of securitization transactions in the segment of residential and commercial real estate. High potential for development of the social segment of ESG securitization is also noted due to the growing demand for financing social projects in the regions. Expansion of the practice of social mortgage securitization will contribute to the redistribution of risks between the public and private sectors, while active involvement of Russian banks in a variety of ESG lending programs (car loans, lending to small and medium-sized businesses with a green and social focus, e.g. for the construction of social infrastructure, etc.) will expand the market. There is a suggestion that the development of digital ESG securitization platforms will help expand the reach of retail investors, while cooling the junk bond market. The article notes that the expansion of multi-tranche ESG securitization will allow long-term assets of pension funds and various ESG funds to be leveraged into mortgage-backed securities. Overall, ESG securitization improves the structure of transactions, expands the range of derivatives used, improves the quality of credit and interest rate risk management, and contributes to the achievement of sustainable development goals.

p. 104-125

Authors: Mikhail V. Milchakov

The article is devoted to the changes in the fiscal and financial situation of Russian regions in 2020–2022. During this period, the regions faced a new challenge in the form of a pandemic. The author gives a quantitative assessment of the changes that have occurred, analyzes the features of support measures and the regional policy being implemented. The article examines changes in the parameters of regional budget revenues, budget deficits and debt burden. In addition, the author identifies a group of regions with maximum changes in per capita budget revenues and the factors that caused these changes. The author pays special attention to measures in the field of debt policy, methodology for equalization grant allocation, as well as demographic characteristics affecting regional expenditures. The article presents proposals for possible further improvement of the system of interbudgetary fiscal relations, including approaches to the provision of unconditional gap-filling financial support.

p. 8-30

Authors: Elizaveta V. Martyanova, Andrey V. Polbin

The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of alternative options of progressive taxation on Russia’s macroeconomic performance. For quantitative assessments, a neoclassical general equilibrium model with heterogeneous households subject to idiosyncratic income shocks was used. Three groups of scenarios were analyzed, setting a threshold progressive tax scale with thresholds of 30, 50, and 70 thousand rubles, under which state income tax revenues (1) grow, (2) remain unchanged, and (3) decline. The maximum personal income tax rate in the analyzed scenarios was 25%. Steady states and transitions were calculated for the scenarios. According to the quantitative estimates, the first reform leads to a loss of 0.3% to 1.3% of GDP in the long run, depending on the assumed rates and threshold. Despite the increase in lump-sum transfers, aggregate household consumption decreases by 0.5–1.7% in all cases. The second reform leads to a loss of 0.2% to 0.6% of GDP in the long run. The third reform leads to insignificant fluctuations of GDP within 0.1%: GDP increases at the threshold of 30 thousand rubles and decreases at other thresholds. The scale of inequality reduction, as measured by the Gini coefficient, increases with an increase in the top tax rate. However, as the threshold increases, the depth of the Gini index reduction first increases and then decreases. In the short run, there is upward pressure on wages and prices. This is because a decrease in labor supply with unchanged capital in the short run leads to an increase in wage rates (a shift along the labor demand curve), and an increase in wage rates means an increase in marginal costs for firms, leading to higher prices.

p. 45-60

Authors: Elena E. Grishina

The article analyzes changes in the financial situation of large families in the period from 2018 to 2022 using the data of the Rosstat’s Comprehensive Observation of Living Conditions of the Population for 2018 and 2022. The prevalence of various deprivations among large households and households with children in general is estimated. Changes in household income relative to the poverty line and deprivation level between 2018 and 2022 are calculated. It is shown that despite the improvement in financial status between 2018 and 2022, large families continue to experience significant risks of poverty and deprivation. To assess the factors affecting the incomes of large households, Rosstat data of the Sample Survey of Population Income and Participation in Social Programs (VNDN-2022) were used. Regression analysis shows that employment of adult members of a large family, improvement of their education and qualification level will contribute to the growth of average per capita family income relative to the poverty line. The article outlines proposals for increasing the labor potential of large families, improving their financial situation and reducing poverty.

p. 78-95

Authors: Maria V. Sigova, Igor K. Klyuchnikov, Oleg I. Klyuchnikov

Green finance increases the innovation potential of green transformation, helps to address climate change, the environmental crisis and energy security. It is important for green finance to achieve sustainable and balanced development, which will increase the security of both finance itself and many processes in the real economy that depend on it. The purpose of this study was to develop approaches to the ontological design of green finance and multi-agent modeling of the behavior of green finance actors, considering their sustainable and safe interaction. To achieve this goal it was necessary to clarify the conceptual apparatus of green finance and related areas; to characterize the "work" of the multi-agent model in the analysis of the behavior of the main green finance actors and to trace the prospects for their impact on the stability and security of the financial market; and finally, based on ontology construction and agent-based approach to nonlinear interactions in the green financial process, to determine the mechanism of building chains of the main market participants. The methodological basis of the study consists of general scientific research methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, logic), as well as evolutionary dynamics and agent-based approach to the analysis of financial markets. A comparative analysis of the works of various authors and the interpretation of theoretical provisions in related areas of knowledge about finance, as well as the analysis of their sustainable and safe development were carried out. As a result of the study, the authors identified the main approaches to the design of financial ontology and multi-agent modeling of financial interactions in the direction of determining their sustainable and safe development. The proposed model establishes that the criterion of the effectiveness of the applied strategy is the satisfaction with the state of financial impact on the economy, environment, and social sphere. Maintaining this state, along with saving the amount of resources used, is done through optimization. The chosen approach corresponds to the concept of sustainable development and safe functioning of the systems under consideration.

p. 109-124

Authors: Irina P. Dovbiy, Natalya S. Dovbiy

This study reveals the special role of finance related to the climate and energy transition, the effectiveness of which is evaluated by ESG criteria. The authors define the concept of "sustainable finance" as economic relations within the framework of purposeful formation of capital flows in accordance with ESG principles from public, corporate and private sources and their channeling to achieve the goals of sustainable development, energy transition and adaptation to climate change. It is established that the sustainable development policy implies a comprehensive achievement of goals and solving problems related to the energy transition and overcoming the consequences of climate change, without considering one without the other. The article reveals a connection between the strengthening of climate-related risk management and acceleration of energy consumption, which led to an increase in investor demand for reliable, comprehensive and comparable information. It also reveals significant contradictions between the global players of the global economy regarding the timing and forms of ensuring technological sovereignty and the special role of sustainable finance in achieving it, as well as the importance for Russia to follow global trends in the climate and energy transition. As a special segment of sustainable finance, the field of venture climate finance is developing quite rapidly, but this process is hampered by the lack of adequate information among venture investors about ESG in hightech startup companies and the specter of "black swans" in the financial markets.