Viktoriia Koilo

In this paper, scientific and methodological approaches as for interpreting the notion “national debt of the country” as a whole are systematized, the essence of “internal national debt” and “external national debt” in particular is clarified. Critical analysis of the state and dynamics of the national debt of Ukraine during 2006-2015 was performed. Dynamics of the extent of internal and external national debt of the country was studied and their comparative analysis was performed. Detailed structure of both internal part of the debt and its external part is presented. With the help of correlation analysis, strength of correlation and directions of influence of different types of debts on the national budget of Ukraine in 2006-2015 was determined.

The article examines the relationship between external debt and economic growth in emerging economies for the period 2006-2016. The authors used different econometric tools, e.g., ADL model and correlation analysis. The regression results showed that the original values had no significant impact on the estimation of the parameters. Thus, there was made an assumption that emerging economies have a non-linear impact on macroeconomic parameters, including external debt that has a non-linear type of influence on economic growth. The authors established that high level of external debt, in conjunction with macroeconomic instability, impedes economic growth in such countries. The regression model also showed that there is a critical level of debt burden for emerging economies, where the marginal impact of external debt on economic growth becomes negative.
The results of the study highlighted the significance of the problem of effective public debt management strategy implementation in Ukraine. This issue is predetermined by the appropriate organizational support. The study recommends improving a public external debt management model. In this paper, the authors proposed a new structure with the participation of new element – independent agencies. The unified external debt management system should integrate all state institutions and executive power structures in this area.

Considering the rapid development of oceanic logistics, the maritime traffic is one of the worst offenders for air and water pollution. This paper primarily aims to explore the key concepts and terms applied to denote the sustainability issues in maritime transport and main challenges for the shipping industry. The present study investigates the existing sustainability frameworks on the relationship between sustainability and maritime industry. Also the author proposes to use modelling approaches to measure the relationship between oil prices, exchange rate, services export and ocean transport value added. The empirical findings indicate that growth rate of the crude oil prices has negative impact on ocean transport value added growth, and it can be traced that the oil industry has a strong influence on value creation in maritime clusters and their competitiveness, especially on the shipping sector. The analysis also sheds light on the impacts of relationship between environmental pollution and maritime cluster activity (through the validation of the EKC hypothesis in Norway). The current paper reveals that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions. The empirical evidences show that the links between CO2 emissions and ocean transport value added are more significant than with energy consumption indicator. It can be assumed that, due to the energy efficiency policy and technological leadership in the shipping industry, the environmental impact of energy use (renewable energy) has improved.

This paper sheds light on the financial crisis of 2008–2010 in eleven emerging Eastern European economies (EE11): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan and Ukraine. The aim is twofold. In the first place it seeks to find out if the financial instability hypothesis, as put forward by Minsky and Kindleberger, is a valid explanatory factor for the crisis. Secondly, it tries to map if general institutional frameworks of these countries were developed in order to stand against the factors leading into the financial crisis.
To answer these research problems the paper maps cycles of three parameters representing the real economy, i.e. gross domestic product, manufacturing output and unemployment and four parameters representing the financial markets, i.e. money supply, credit volumes, inflation and government debt. The cycle approach is carried out with the help of a structural time series analysis to isolate cycles in time series. The paper concludes that there were substantial positive financial cycles previous to the financial crisis mirrored by similar cycles in the real economy.
Similarly, the results show negative cycles in the same parameters during the years of crisis. It seems that an uncontrolled increase in money and credit caused the economy to overheat and thereafter contract into financial and real economy crises.
Also, the paper compiles twelve different indices of institutional development. These are standardized and presented in an institutional development matrix, showing that the general institutional framework for the eleven economies was weak previous to and under the meltdown of the economies.
The construction of an integrated institutional development index on the basis of the same twelve parameters confirms institutional shortcomings, which may have made the economies less able to guard themselves from a crisis initiated by both domestically and internationally financial instability.

The present study investigates the Norwegian maritime industry in terms of its economic activity during the period 2001–2018. The purpose of the study is to determine the financial state and to conduct the cluster analysis of the companies which belong to the Blue Maritime Cluster of Møre and Romsdal County.
The paper presents a structural analysis of key financial indicators of the maritime industry within four major segments: shipping companies, shipyards, ship equipment manufactures, and maritime design and service providers. The analysis sheds light on the impact of the 2015–2017 offshore crisis on the Norwegian maritime cluster activity, which makes up the essential components of the maritime industry.
The author suggests using Harrington’s desirability function to measure the firms’ financial state of two main segments (shipping companies and shipyards) that belong to the Blue Maritime Cluster of the Norwegian North-Western coast, which remains the most important area in Norway for shipbuilding activities. The obtained results reveal that during the analyzed period (2001–2018), companies had a satisfactory level of financial sustainability (with the peak in 2002 for shipping firms and in 2011 for shipyards). Nevertheless, there were several fluctuations and the most significant troughs were fixed after 2014. Moreover, it was defined that government policy plays an important role in an increase in the productivity, competitiveness of the maritime industry and supports more environmentally friendly shipbuilding.

The paper investigates the offshore crisis 2015–2017 and its impact on central international offshore oil and gas related maritime cluster, the Blue Maritime Cluster, located at the North-Western coast of Norway.
This complete maritime cluster, heavily involved in offshore petroleum operations, it experienced an almost devastating blow, as it lost almost one-third of its employees as its value added contracted by 39 percent.
When the crises is basically seen as a result of falling of oil prices and lower activity and squeezed profit margins, this paper investigates the crisis in the light of financial instability and reactions down the maritime supply chain.
By collecting data from the Blue Maritime Cluster and the Norwegian central company register one is able both to trace the fall in the activity due to the crisis and measures of financial strength. The study approaches the data by using a structural time series analysis in order to map cycles as deviations from polynomial trends.
The findings ascertain that financial instability was dominant within the Blue Maritime Cluster during its boom before the crisis. Debt ratios and thereby gearing (leverage) were high. Thus, the companies could not meet their obligations when the crisis hit.
The paper also finds that narrow focused supply chain management made the cluster fall deep into the abyss. Companies with a more diversified portfolio were able to meet the hard years better than others.

Digital transition in the maritime industry creates new organizational models and affects the relationship between actors. New relationships require new business models (BMs). In addition, due to the paradigm of green shifts towards a zero-emission future of maritime shipping in 2050, stricter regulations require new solutions, and “business as usual” is not actual anymore. Thus, the study aims to investigate key drivers for creating new BMs and factors for their effective implementation by companies. The results of the study point to the main reasons for creating BMs. It was revealed that there are several external and internal prerequisites. Moreover, it was proved that considering the current tendency of the interfaces in relationships with different industries, it is important to talk about the development of BMs not only from a supply chain perspective. Moreover, it should be considered from the point of view of network value. Hence, the study highlights the need for a further investigation that aims to design new solutions, implement, test, and observe the effect of new BMs, considering collaborative ties between interested parties.

Acknowledgment
The study is supported by the grant from the Research Based Innovation “SFI Marine Operation in Virtual Environment (SFI-MOVE)” (Project no: 237929) in Norway.

The maritime industry is always at the forefront of knowledge and new technology. In recent years, the companies have used large resources in research and development (R&D) towards environmentally friendly technology. At the same time, there exist many issues around this: are those companies enough good at the utilizing of R&D fonds, i.e., do they put new technology together with solutions that are best adapted to the customer requirements (export-oriented), on the one hand, and are they efficient and sustainable, on another hand? Hence, the current paper aims to study how the R&D costs contribute to value creation and sustainable transition in the maritime industry. To achieve this goal, R&D activities in the maritime industry were analyzed using correlation and linear regression analyses between 2010 and 2019. The results show that those indicators that have the greatest positive impact on value-added are R&D expenditures in the business enterprise sector and turnover from product innovations. Also, it was revealed that there is a negative impact of trade indicators on value creation. In addition, the study proves that R&D activities are contributing to the sustainable transition of the maritime industry. Overall, it was concluded that without sufficient public support, strategy, and new business models, export-oriented industries benefit less from innovation.

Acknowledgment
The study is supported by a grant from the Research Based Innovation “SFI Marine Operation in Virtual Environment (SFI-MOVE)” (Project no: 237929) in Norway.

In the context of globalization, the process of value creation is becoming more complex, exposed to greater risks for companies, partners, and customers. Moreover, modern digital technologies, such as the use of digital twin technology, can increase the use of geographically dispersed work teams and contribute to sustainable value creation in the future. However, the digital transition creates new organizational models and influences relationships in supply chains, thus affecting structural changes in business models.
Hence, the study aims to investigate, from the whole value chain perspective, how the next generation of digital services is affecting business value and changing the business model concept. In addition, this paper discusses the stakeholder and social responsibility value creation perspective on business model for integrated sustainable value creation.
To investigate this, it was decided to use a quantitative methodology in the form of questionnaires, which were distributed among different interested parties: two contractors, three suppliers, and an operator.
The results indicated that all respondents, such as an operator, shipping companies, and subsea service providers, are positive about future digital technologies, which should ensure environmental sustainability, improve human interaction and communication. At the same time, they emphasize the importance of integrated join work within the value creation element. Overall, all participants are interested in reducing costs, they expect initiatives from each other in offering sustainable and innovative solutions, and to achieve these, innovative cooperation is needed.

Acknowledgment
The study is supported by a grant from the Research Based Innovation “SFI Marine Operation in Virtual Environment (SFI-MOVE)” (Project no: 237929) in Norway.

It is assumed that technological progress plays a vital role in energy efficiency improvements when the effects of industrial restructuring, infrastructure, environmental challenges, and economic shocks seem more dubious. However, a limited number of studies have been conducted to examine the impact of technological innovation on countries’ energy efficiency levels. This study aims to explore the relationship between energy efficiency, technological innovation, and economic growth in 30 European countries by utilizing data from 2012 to 2020. To this end, a two-stage analysis is carried out. The first step involves estimating the total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) by the countries to illustrate the effects of energy parameters on economic growth and the environment, and technological innovation (TI) to estimate the innovation capability of each country by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology. The second step includes a panel regression model to explore how technological innovation affects energy efficiency, considering the degree of government intervention, industrial structure, infrastructure, and economic openness.
The results indicate that the bottom-15 countries, whose TFEE scores were the lowest, are mainly countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Regarding the countries’ technological capability, the results were similar, but the score was lower than the TFEE.
Moreover, the regression analysis shows that a one percent increase in innovation activity contributes to an increase in energy efficiency by 0.27 percent. Hence, it confirms the notion of a positive impact of new technology on energy efficiency.

Acknowledgments
The study is supported by the grant from the Research Based Innovation “SFI Marine Operation in Virtual Environment (SFI-MOVE)” (Project No. 237929) in Norway.

The Norwegian maritime industry is at the forefront of green technology development, with shipyards playing a crucial role in testing, verification, and development. However, the industry faces challenges such as high personal costs, increasing competition from abroad, and cyclical market trends. This study aims to assess financial performance as indicator of firm-level competitiveness based on a set of 12 financial measures and test the hypothesis of the positive impact of portfolio diversification on shipyards’ competitiveness.
The analysis utilizes data from four large construction yards and four medium-sized construction, repair, and maintenance yards in the Møre region. The methodology involves constructing a Shipyard Competitiveness Index with sub-indices for liquidity, profitability, solvency, and efficiency. Regression analysis is conducted to investigate the impact of ship variety, as a diversification parameter, on the competitiveness level.
The obtained results reveal that during the analyzed period (2009–2020), companies in the group of large shipyards had better financial performance until 2017, while on the contrary, the second group of shipyards in the same period showed an increase in their competitiveness index. Moreover, the findings proved the presence of the positive relationship between diversification of portfolio and competitiveness index.
This study contributes valuable insights for the Norwegian shipbuilding industry, highlighting the importance of financial performance assessment in measuring competitiveness. The study provides a foundation for future discussions on fostering sustainable growth and innovation within the maritime sector.

This study came to inspect a new approach to the government debt security assessment based on the systematization of indicators in terms of four directions: solvency, liquidity, domestic indebtedness, and external indebtedness. The proposed methodology considers the weaknesses, which negatively affect the level of government debt security.
It was established that in 2014−2016 the level of security at emerging markets was the worst. The main reason was insufficient solvency. Also, the obtained results showed that the general assessment of domestic indebtedness in recent years had a more dangerous level than the external one. In addition, it was revealed that similar problems with the level of debt burden are also presented in the EU countries since the value of the analyzed indicator – general government debt to GDP – exceeds 60%.
It is recommended to consider the experience of debt management reform of new members of the EU and, at the same time, post-socialist countries by other emerging economies.

Digitalization in the maritime sector encompasses interconnected technologies that enhance efficiency, risk mitigation, and safety in marine operations and offshore assets management. Digital twin, or virtual assets, plays a pivotal role within this digital ecosystem. This study aims to explore the transformative potential of digital twins in the maritime industry, focusing on their capacity to improve sustainability, optimize productivity, and drive innovative business models. A quantitative methodology was employed to investigate this potential in the maritime sector, utilizing questionnaires to gather insights and perspectives from key stakeholders in the Northwestern part of Norway’s maritime industry, including ship designers, shipyards, equipment suppliers, and ship owners. Among the 23 respondents, there were individuals holding senior, leadership, management, and specialized digitalization roles. Notably, 65% of these respondents possessed over 20 years of experience in the maritime industry. The survey reveals a strong interest in adopting digital twins within the maritime sector (70% of respondents). The findings underscore the potential advantages of digital twin solutions, including predictive maintenance (16%), real-time operational efficiency enhancements (17%), and design optimization (18%). Nevertheless, implementation complexity (73.9%) and data integration (73.9%) loom significant obstacles. Respondents also recognize the potential for new product opportunities and innovative business models arising from digital twin implementation. Sustainability initiatives are emphasized, particularly in real-time monitoring (83%), retrofitting (74%), and predictive maintenance (65%). Cybersecurity (65%) and data protection (62%) are critical concerns. Furthermore, implementing digital twins is anticipated to promote collaboration and information sharing among maritime industry stakeholders, underscoring their potential for transformative impact.

The maritime industry faces intense scrutiny to address climate change amidst strict environmental regulations and societal expectations. The paper mainly focuses on understanding and evaluating the key factors driving the transition toward decarbonization in shipping. The study utilized qualitative analysis, focusing on reviewing current environmental targets set by major regulatory bodies, notably the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Union (EU).
The study concludes that a clear strategy for reducing emissions is essential, and a holistic approach must be adopted. Thus, the investigation identified several critical factors that can facilitate the creation of an effective strategy to achieve net zero emissions, comply with regulatory goals, and reduce current emissions. They are decarbonization levels (solutions), ecosystem (value chain), and drivers (enablers), collectively referred to as the decarbonization LED model.
The study emphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement and policy advocacy to support zero-emission transition. For instance, the paper explores the sector’s decarbonization potential through a value chain perspective (Scope 3): employing the life-cycle approach to assess the complete environmental footprint of ship – “Cradle-to-Grave” frameworks (from raw material extraction, production, and product use, until the end of its life) and “Well-to-Wake” methodology to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions from fuel production to end-use by a ship. Additionally, the paper assesses the potential impacts of environmental regulations in the maritime sector, predicting significant transformations in the industry’s operational, technological, and collaborative practices.

Acknowledgment
This study was partially supported by the SEUS project – Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON), under grant agreement No 101096224. This article reflects only the authors’ views, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

The maritime industry plays a special role in Norway. In recent years, it became subject to increasingly stronger requirements to reduce emissions. However, the most important is that the Norwegian maritime industry in several areas can deliver and further develop technology and products that provide lower emissions, nationally and globally. Going forward, technology development will be more important with time. Thus, it is important to find out what impact it will have on the industry’s sustainable development and estimate the efficiency of new technologies.
This paper primarily aims to find a new optimization tool, which allows monitoring progress in the maritime industry towards sustainable development.
The present study reveals many new possible zero-emission solutions in the maritime industry, such as battery-electric architectures, ammonia, hydrogen, biofuel, and liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), autonomous ships, etc. Moreover, it was highlighted that without active coordination between governance, academia, and industry, it is impossible to achieve international climate commitments and associated targets for reducing the emissions in the maritime industry.
In addition, in this study, a twofold model was proposed: the first part is the calculation of the Sustainable Development Index (SDI), and the last one is mathematical modeling, where the optimization variable carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and Sustainable Development Index (SDI) should be maximized.
The investigation results prove that the model should be tested, and further research in this area is needed.

Acknowledgment
The research is supported by a grant from the Research Based Innovation “SFI Marine Operation in Virtual Environment (SFI-MOVE)” (Project no: 237929) in Norway.

The paper proposes a new approach for dealing with uncertainties in determining the level of sustainability at the national scale. Composite Sustainable Development Index (SDI) is a tool designed to assess comprehensively the progress made by 15 advanced economies and 15 emerging economies since 2004–2018 towards achieving sustainable development goals.
The proposed composite index aims to measure and monitor a sustainable development at the national level, and to increase the understanding of sustainability.
This method also sheds light on main problems of different economies at the current stage of their development: the methodology considers a set of indicators and arranged into four categories of sustainable development: economy, society, governance, and environment.
The present study shows that during the analyzed period, advanced economies had a satisfactory level of sustainability, while the level of SDI of the emerging markets was lower. Also, the obtained results reveal that since the adoption of Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015 developed countries have been showing better performance.
Moreover, the paper presents the research design of an optimization model for sustainable development with CO2 emissions consideration.