Vulnerability of Energy Security in Eastern Europe and Testing of Commitments regarding the 3rd Energy Package (The Case of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine)

Author(s): Ion Muntean / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2012

The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are in a period of intense talks with Gazprom in order to obtain new gas procurement conditions that would be closer to the reality of natural gas markets. Chisinau authorities still fail, in the second quarter of 2012, to purchase natural gas from the Russian Federation at a lower price under a new contract even though it had to happen from January 1, 2012 once the contract signed in 2006 expired on December 31, 2011. As for Ukraine, the talks have the same purpose: reduce the purchase price but this can be done by signing an additional agreement to the contract signed with the Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom in 2009 for a period of 10 years. Although Ukraine committed itself under this contract to buy a constant amount of natural gas - 52 billion cubic meters per year, the new authorities in Kiev have another view of the contract in force and make efforts to reduce Russian gas consumption - a fact that tenses negotiations with Gazprom. Is this a negative signal about the energy security in Eastern Europe or are these the first consequences of Moldova and Ukraine’s commitments made to the EU regarding the third energy package?

Vyšehradská štvorka: revitalizácia po „únave z rozšírenia“

Author(s): Tomáš Strážay / Language(s): Slovak / Publication Year: 0

It can be argued that after the accession to the European Union the Visegrad Four has been looking for new priorities and goals. Nevertheless, it has become obvious that it is quite difficult to find goals comparable to the EU and NATO accession. Though almost immediately after the accession the representatives of the V4 identified new priority areas for future cooperation and embodied them in the Kroměříž Declaration, skeptical voices regarding the viability of the V4 regional initiative under new conditions of the EU membership could not have been overlooked. To some extent, not only the EU, but also the V4 countries were suffering from the post-enlargement fatigue and had to adapt to their new roles of EU member states. In other words, in the first years of EU accession the challenges connected with the membership overshadowed the initiatives held under the umbrella of Visegrad.

Vývoj legislatívnych požiadaviek pre prevádzky bioplynových staníc na Slovensku

Author(s): Miroslav Venek / Language(s): Slovak / Issue: 3/2017

This paper deals with changes in environmental legislation, affecting the operation of biogas plants in Slovakia. The aim of this work is to identify changes in environmental legislation that have occurred over the past year, directly related to the operation of biogas plants and to briefly discuss their impact on their operation. The most significant changes are identified in certain paragraphs of the new law on Waste Management and in new implementing regulations of the Clean Air Act. These results are limited in time, since the legislation is subject to continuous change and also spatially, as it is only valid on the territory of Slovakia. Practical and social implications of discussed legislative changes can be generalized by the knowledge that costs associated with the introduction of changes in legislation should be balanced by society-wide benefits. Original contribution of the article is in demonstration of the practical problems associated with the application of some changes in legislation based on the experience of the authors with environmental services to biogas plants.

Vzdelávanie zamerané na odpady s cieľom ochrany prostredia

Author(s): Melánia Feszterová / Language(s): Slovak / Issue: 3/2018

Environmental education is the key component of tool, for the preservation of the environment, which can increase knowledge. Dissemination and increasing of knowledge is leading to improved attitudes to environment. Attitudes are changing behavior of people. Environmental education is frequently undertaken as a conservation intervention designed to change the attitudes and behavior of recipients. Much conservation education is aimed at children and students, with the rationale that they might influence the attitudes of their parents, who will consequently change their behavior. Our paper provides the first strong support for the suggestion that environmental education can be transferred between generations and indirectly induce targeted behavioral changes. The aim of the paper is to inform pupils, students, teachers and future teachers with on-line innovative study materials contained in the e-learning course prepared under the KEGA Project (Cultural and Educational Grant Agency) No. 044UKF-4/2017. This project describes treatment of the surrounding environment and countryside and suggests a way to prevent it. The training topics of the course analyse the situation, look for solutions and the basics to improve the current state of the environment. The course focuses on the chemical nature of waste and waste management from the point of view of educational work and its application in practice.

Vzťahy s Ukrajinou ako priorita zahraničnej politiky SR

Author(s): Alexander Duleba / Language(s): Slovak / Publication Year: 0

2005 was the first year of Slovakia’s implementing its post-integration foreign policy priorities. In March 2004, the Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda, in his speech at the Foreign Policy Review Conference, emphasised that Ukraine and the Western Balkans are of primary importance to the Slovak foreign policy after the EU and NATO accession. In his opinion, Slovakia has the ambition to become a supporter of Ukraine and the countries of the Western Balkans in the EU and NATO as well as to assist them in their reforms and civil society development. The first steps towards the Ukraine were made by the Slovak government in 2004.

Vzťahy s východnými susedmi v roku 2007

Author(s): Alexander Duleba / Language(s): Slovak / Publication Year: 0

The Slovak government, which was formed after the June 2006 parliamentary elections, made a commitment in its Manifesto to intensify the economic dimension of Slovak diplomacy. Prime Minister Robert Fico specified that the diplomacy’s economic dimension would concern mainly the further development of Slovakia’s relations with Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe. He stated that he would personally advocate for the improvement of Slovak-Russian relations, which until now, had been, as to his view, downgraded by Slovak diplomacy. According to him, the relations with Russia will be stimulated, because the new cabinet will provide significantly more support to the economic dimension of foreign policy including countries such as Russia, Ukraine, and China. Further on, the text attempts to review the development of the political as well as the economic agenda of the Slovak Republic’s (SR) relations with the eastern neighbors in 2007 including the fulfillment of the foreign policy’s new priority.

Vzťahy Slovenska s východnými susedmi v roku 2008

Author(s): Alexander Duleba / Language(s): Slovak / Publication Year: 0

In 2008, Russia dominated Slovakia’s eastern policy. In comparison with the previous period, relations with Ukraine were not as intense as they had been and there is a glimpse of hope that relations with Belarus will develop more dynamically in the context of the shifting EU approach to this country.

W POSZUKIWANIU MIAR EFEKTYWNOŚCI INWESTYCJI NA RZECZ ŚRODOWISKA

Author(s): Mariola E. Zalewska,Waldemar Kozioł / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 40/2/2015

This paper outlines the issues related to effectiveness of investments for the environment measures. The relations between society and the environment are sketched, taking into account systems of indicators describing these relationships. Attention is drawn to the usefulness of explicitly take into account the investment for the environment, as one of the aspects of the relationship between society and the environment. The article concludes with a case study, which demonstrated that even such an extensive database as Eurostat, is not sufficient to assess the effectiveness of environmental investments at the level of countries.

W sprawie Nord Stream 2 Niemcy zachowują się jak Trump

Author(s): Gustav Gressler / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 2/2019

Author coments on German state hypocrisy in the issue of German-Russian Relations

Wartość ekonomiczna przyrody

Author(s): Tomasz Żylicz / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 39/2017

The paper uses the classic definition of economics as a science of making choices, and it defines economic value as the proportion people apply when they exchange one good for another. Goods provided by nature are exchanged too, but usually, unlike many other goods, they are not traded in markets, and so their values are difficult to ascertain. Nevertheless, over the last couple of decades economists have developed a number of methods to measure their values. The paper refers to valuation results presented in international literature, and discusses similar attempts carried out in Poland. It stresses that such valuations should be based on real decisions made by people even if their choices seemunreasonable and poorly thought through.

Waste management and sustainable economic development in the modern economies

Author(s): Brankica TODOROVIĆ / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2018

The environment is a comprehensive category of the economic development which it should be managed at the level of several policies, including economic and trade policies. Therefore, this paper focuses on: economic and sustainable development according to the indicators Human Development Index (HDI) and Environmental Performance Index (EPI), measures of the economic policies that enable efficient waste management, as well as, the impact of the mass tourism, the growing number of population in cities and development of eco-tourism on the reduction pressures on the environmental

Waste Management in Romania

Author(s): Sanda Vişan,Alina Maria Ion,Virginia Ciobotaru,Florica Ligia Botez / Language(s): English / Issue: S1/2009

Waste constitutes a serious problem of the contemporary world, through their quantity and diversity, resulting from all economic fields, towns, services, health, and consumption activities. Integrated management of waste which is applied in Romania too, supposes the reducing wastes in productive activities, collection, transport, storage controlled, monitoring deposits and selling material or energy. This study makes references to the collection of their packaging and recycling.

Waste Management Workforce Cost Analysis in Serbia from 2009 to 2015

Author(s): Žarko Vranjanac,Dragan Spasić / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2017

Abstract Waste management entails business expenses during the performance of waste management activities. The bulk of these expenses comprise workforce costs, costs of amortization, energy, tools and equipment, etc. The aim of this paper is to analyze the workforce cost in waste management in Serbia from 2009 to 2015 using statistical data analysis. The results show a constant increase in the total gross and net waste management workforce costs. The gross waste management workforce cost increased by 70.5 % during the analyzed period, while the net cost in the same category increased by as much as 72.75 %.

Waste Portable Batteries and Accumulators Management in Compliance with European Union Requirements in Ukraine: Present State and High Priority Activities

Author(s): Тetiana Shevchenko,Inna Koblianska,Olena Markova / Language(s): English / Issue: 01 (17)/2017

This study is aimed to determine the high priority activities for forming a separate collection system of waste portable batteries and accumulators in Ukraine to fulfil the European Union (EU) requirements. The necessity to create the State Agency of Ukraine for the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment and waste batteries and accumulators as well as the Special Fund for financing the handling processes of this type of waste are substantiated; the main objective of such Agency is to provide the most comprehensive collection and disposal of these types of waste by centralizing administrative functions of systems of handling them.

Waste Reduction as an Innovative Strategy: Case Studies

Author(s): Edyta Gheribi,Anna Wronka,Beata Gotwald-Feja / Language(s): English / Issue: 12.2/2017

As presented in the article, the issue of waste management is crucial for contemporary economies, especially from a perspective of the citizens. Companies apply various methods to manage waste in a sustainable way, usually limiting their activities to the scheme of “reduce, re-use and recycle”. Although the needs of global community are the same (in terms of sustainable development) regardless country of origin, the companies apply different strategies of waste management. The insourcing model may be perceived as a way to gather waste from available places (streets, scrap-heaps or garbage dumps) and re-used to create a new value for the obtained resources. The outsourcing model is a chance for companies which have some production waste to be disposed. In it the customers (or generally speaking – people) are interested in gaining the resources to create a new product which is far from a firstly produced. The choice for specific model is irrelevant, because the crucial issue is sustainability which can be achieved by synergic cooperation of all waste-cycle members.

Wastewater Issue: High Time for Better Management – The Case of Macedonia

Author(s): Karolina Pendovska / Language(s): English / Publication Year: 2009

Globally increased industrial production, intense agriculture activities and household consumption in the last century have led to increased use of water resources. This in turn has increased the rate of production of wastewater, polluting the nearby recipients (surface waters and groundwaters). The well‐being of Earth’s natural water resources has been seriously threatened. Sustainable use of water resources and their protection, water quality and targets for achieving safe drinking water supply and basic sanitation have become more promptly addressed in the international and regional legal instruments. Reactions on the diminishing of future water resources quantity and quality are emerging on European Union (EU) level too, calling out for “water to be one of the main issues on the political agenda and integrated into all policies.”

Wastewater Treatment in European Union’s Countries – Economy of Access, Determinants, Legislation and Implications in Urban Areas

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Author(s): Claudiu Tiberiu Albulescu,Caius Luminosu,Liana Rodica Pater / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

The primary purpose of the paper is to present the regulatory framework of wastewater treatment and the cooperation between EU and OECD inside the European Union Water Initiative. We also perform an empirical analysis of wastewater treatment determinants in a set of 28 OECD countries, using annual data for the period 2000 to 2017. The panel data analysis reveals that the access to wastewater treatment services is positively influenced by the level of revenue per capita and by the R&D expenditure. At the same time, the energy prices negatively affect the access to wastewater treatment services. The EU membership has no significant impact on the services access rate.

Water deficit as a security threat

Author(s): Anna Sakson-Boulet / Language(s): English / Issue: 9/2016

The aim of the article is to explain the key definitions connected with water security and to analyse state relations in the context of water issues. In this context therefore water can be seen to be a precious resource because there it has no substitute. Thus the lack of water security is emerging as one of the major barriers for economic and social growth in developing countries and a source of domestic conflicts. On the other hand, water-related events might result in international cooperation, as Kofi Annan noticed during the celebration of World Water Day: “Fierce national competition over water resources has prompted fears that water issues contain the seeds of violent conflict. [...] If all world’s peoples work together, a secure and sustainable water future can be ours”. What is certain, in the near future any environmental security planning will have to take into consideration the prime issue of water security.

Water supply, sanitation and hygiene education in secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria

Author(s): Christiana Ndidi Egbinola,Amobichukwu Chukwudi Amanambu / Language(s): English / Issue: 29/2015

Access to potable water supply, sanitation and hygiene education remains relatively low both in the urban and rural areas in developing countries. The main aim of the study was to get an overview of the condition of the water and sanitary facilities in schools and of hygiene education. The method of investigation involved systematic random sampling with the use of questionnaires and interviews with the students and teachers and onsite inspection of the sanitation facilities available within the schools. The results revealed that 24% of schools used W/C while 76% of schools used pit toilets, of which 88% were ordinary pit toilets and 12% VIP. The number of toilets within the schools ranged between 0 and 14 revealing a 185:1 student to toilet ratio within the study area, but ranged widely from 83:1 to 510:1 between schools. The study, however, revealed the absence of wash hand basins in 77% of the schools and no soap in 88% of the schools with wash hand basins. Investing in clean water, sanitation and hygiene education in these public schools should become a priority for governments in developing countries and School Sanitation and Hygiene Education program (SSHE) should be adopted and implemented across schools in Nigeria.

Water Tariffs as a Determinant for Water Consumption – The Analysis Across Polish Cities

Author(s): Krzysztof Berbeka / Language(s): English / Issue: 2 (42)/2017

This paper presents an empirical verification of the demand price elasticity for piped water in major cities in Poland – it was the main goal of the research. The information concerning the demand reaction to price changes is substantial for sustainable urban water demand. Any prediction of possible adaptation to global climate change also requires detailed information about consumer behaviour related to water consumption. This study was conducted on panel data consisting of approx. 100 largest Polish cities over the period of 5 years: 2010-2014. It was the second analysis in Poland and the first conducted on individual data from Polish agglomerations, instead of aggregated data for the whole country. Such detailed level of disaggregation has also some disadvantages – due to the lack of income data for each city – the income elasticity was skipped in the model. Finally the results were in the same range as figures obtained in other EU countries.