The Russian Federation RTAs in the Light of Global Value Chains

In the literature, the regional integration policy of the Russian Federation has been studied in a variety of contexts. The focus is on the imperial and international aspirations of Russia. The article attempts to answer the question of whether participation in global value chains can be treated as a new criterion of regional integration. The article analyses the participation of the Russian Federation in the global value chains. The thesis is that in the modern globalized world, the directions of the most favourable RTA should be determined not only by the volume and intensity of trade but also by the structure of the global value chains of a particular country. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.