CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VI (1) Contemporary-Eurasia-VI-1-engl | Page 26

ARMEN MANVELYAN
surplus of electricity and now it has the opportunity to export it to the
EAEU market and make up for the electricity deficit not only in
Kazakhstan, but also in Kyrgyzstan.
Energy prices are crucial for the economies of the EAEU member
countries, while Russia has an opportunity to play the energy card to
strengthen its political influence in the region. On the one hand, a
common energy sector/market threatens Russia with some economic
loss (Russia would have to sell energy at lower rates and charge less
for transit than now), but ,on the other, it provides Russia with additional
political leverage in overall regional energy infrastructures and policies
and, subsequently, significantly increases its political influence. The
significance of this policy is that Russia sees the “Energy dialogue” as
a tool for increasing its geopolitical and geostrategic influence on the
Eurasian continent.
The analysis shows that Russia is attempting to use the energy
strategy as a means of attracting other – not only former-USSR –
nations into cooperation with the EAEU 15 15. This means that energy
remains a key factor in this Union.
Conclusion
The EU's future will be dependent of success on the energy
industry and the capacity to build common energy markets. The
EAEU can be seen as a new energy union because energy is one of the
motivating factors for the ex-Soviet nations to join the EAEU.
The Eurasian Economic Union is changing the geopolitical
landscape in the South Caucasus, especially in the energy sector.
Armenia as a key member of this Union can use it for enhancing its
energy influence in the region. The implementation of the North-
South energy corridor gives Armenia, as the coordinator of this
project, additional leverage for increasing its influence in the South
Caucasus. The North-South can be a real alternative for Armenia in
15
Kirkham K., The formation of the Eurasian Economic Union: How successful
is the Russian regional hegemony?, Research Paper, The Eurasian Economic
Union:
Deals,
Rules
and
the
Exercise
of
Power,
2017,
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187936651630001X
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