Unrecognized Countries in the Analytical and Prognostic Research of the South Caucasus Fuel and Energy Market. Energy Supply of Ossetia South and Abkhazia vs. The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh

Abstract

The Southern Caucasus and its economic research entails difficulties due to the political uniqueness of the region. Armed conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan and limited relations with the external environment of Armenia–Turkey and Georgia–Russia do not favor trade and transparency of concluded transactions. The existence of the so-called unrecognized countries poses a challenge to scientific research. It is impossible to determine precisely the amount of fuel consumption or electricity consumption, because they are not supplied by the countries within which they are located. Their legal affiliation does not allow them to be omitted in all types of sets, which affects the final results of analytical and prognostic research in the field of energy, which depend on the quality of data and economic development forecasts accuracy. The examples of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and the Republic of Nagorno- Karabakh are proof of this. The combination of these two cases makes it possible to highlight the differences between them, which result from a different approach to the issue of meeting the energy needs of the local population by their home countries.