Comparative rating assessment of the position of the Russian Federation in the EAEU and BRICS

Subject. Quantitative assessment of Russia's role in formal and informal associations. Objectives. Comparative rating assessment of the EAEU and BRICS member countries by GDP, exports, imports, share of exports in GDP and degree of import dependence. Methods. The methods of analyzing the dynamics of the structure, the monographic method and the methods of infographics were applied; for comparability, the data are given to a single currency (US dollar) and ranked. Results. The key hypothesis about Russia's dominant role in the EAEU and the comparative reduction of its influence in the BRICS is confirmed. The EAEU functions as an institutionalized form of international economic relations, whereas the BRICS is predominantly informal. In the exports of both associations in 2000-2023, Russia and China are the leaders; after the formation of the EAEU, Kyrgyzstan's position in the ranking worsened, Armenia's improved; in BRICS, India recorded a significant positive shift (rank from 4th to 2nd), Russia lowered its position (from 2nd to 3rd). There have been no global changes in imports; there is a negative trend in Russia and India, with Brazil experiencing the most pronounced improvement. Belarus has the largest share of exports in GDP; Russia's figure has roughly halved to 25% of GDP. The coefficient of import dependence: in the EAEU, Russia has 0.19 per 1 unit. GDP (downward trend); Brazil and China have the best indicators in BRICS, South Africa has the worst (about 0.33). Conclusions. The actual leadership of the Russian Federation in absolute terms within the EAEU (about 70%) gives it the resources to direct integration processes, while in the BRICS, the successes of China and India reduce Russia's relative right to equal play with these countries. This is important for developing a foreign economic and foreign policy strategy: within the EAEU, there is an emphasis on coordinating industrial and trade policies, in the BRICS, on diversifying ties and finding their own niche (energy, raw materials, military–technical cooperation, financial architecture).