Real estate is playing an increasingly important role in global investments, and wealthy people are looking for new alternative areas for investing their capital. Internationally important cities remain the most popular and safest places for purchasing real estate assets. In these markets, investors can expect large and quick profits without much trouble. New hot locations are now appearing on the real estate market, and over the next few years, they have every chance of taking their place alongside London and New York or even overtaking these cities in terms of their ability to attract investments.

Ever since the shale gas revolution in the US that received its recognition in the second half of the 2000s, the majority of global energy experts have spoken of the gigantic changes to the market that the US will bring in the near future. Although the US LNG has not yet changed the face of the global energy supply chains, it has all the potential to redraw the energy maps after 2017-2018 when the mass exports of liquefied gas would begin. But in the midst of the US energy breakthrough, small attention is given to what we believe might be yet another “game-changer”.

Corruption everywhere inhibits economic growth and hinders the development of the private sector. Research conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that 67 of 144 states have named corruption as one of the three major obstacles to doing business in their countries. In developing economies, the level of corruption is generally higher than in developed countries, and this prevents the former from effectively implementing strategies to reduce poverty and leads to an increase in social inequality. In addition, corruption repels investors and reduces the investment attractiveness of the country, which generally has a negative impact on the economy. It is estimated that the cost of corruption (in other words, losses caused by the spread of corruption) amounts to more than 5% of world GDP (or $2.6 trillion, according to WEF data).

On June 27 the EU signed an Association Agreement with three post-Soviet states: Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. Traditionally, the EU uses Association Agreements to strengthen economic ties with countries outside the Union. The EU simplifies trade and harmonizes certain standards, including technical and legal ones, by creating a more favorable environment for economic cooperation. But in the cases of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, the Agreement has obvious political significance.

The South Stream project is a very topical issue, as it determines Europe′s prospects for energy security. Not so long ago, the project was subjected to considerable criticism from the heads of some European countries, largely due to the political crisis in Ukraine and the role that Russia plays in it. WEJ tried to find out how the South Stream project impacts Europe and the reason why certain European leaders wish that it would fail.

According to a recent study by Standard & Poor′s, China ranked first in the world in terms of the size of its corporate debt, which by the end of 2013 amounted to $14.2 trillion. Together with excess production capacity, the increasing size of the shadow banking sector, the credit crisis, and noticeable signs of a real estate bubble, the growing debt clearly shows that everything is not that rosy in the Middle Kingdom. In order to save the Chinese economy from a possible financial crisis and find new incentives for economic growth, China′s leadership in November 2013 announced a program of large-scale transformation.