Transnational Corporations in Transregional Initiatives: Goals and Problems of Participatio

Kuznetsov Denis Andreevich ORCID: 0000-0001-6265-2774 PhD in Politics Associate Professor, Department of World Politics, MGIMO University 119454, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Pr. Vernadskogo, 76 denis_kuz_1@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Rudoman Kirill Alekseevich Chief Specialist-Expert, Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation 123317, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Presnenskaya Naberezhnaya, 10str.2 rudoman_k_a@my.mgimo.ru

The activities of transnational business have already become an integral part of the development of the global political and economic systems, influencing, among other things, the development of integration processes in the world. In general, transnational corporations (TNCs) are business structures whose activities are represented in various regions of the world and whose main goal is to extract economic benefits. The role of TNCs has already been studied in the context of the development of regional integration, as well as their impact on global and regional processes ^{[1; 2; 3]}. At the same time, in the last decade there has been a significant surge in trans-regional activity, which united both individual integration groups (for example, the development of strategic relations between the EU and ASEAN or the EU and Mercosur), and individual states or groups of states from different regions of the world (BRICS, MICTA, Trans-Pacific Partnership projects, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, as well as "Belts and Roads", "Greater Eurasia" and, finally, "Indo-Pacifica") ^{[4; 5]}. It is the relationship between the activities of transnational corporations and the strengthening of trans–regional ties in world politics that is discussed in this article, the purpose of which is to identify, based on the consideration of individual cases, what influence TNCs acquire in trans-regional projects and what consequences this may lead to.

Globalization processes have allowed the largest national companies in the world to acquire a transnational character, opening new branches in other countries, transferring production facilities to some of them to reduce transaction costs ^[6]. In this regard, it is necessary to highlight the characteristic features of the activities of modern TNCs in the prism of their transnationality: the creation of a network of branches in various countries, whose activities are subordinate to the parent company and one of the tasks of which is the implementation of the global strategy of the parent company; the use of international division of labor through the specialization of specific branches located in different countries, which leads to the formation of global economic complexes; geographical distribution of sales of marketable products; transnationalization of production and capital.

The best proof of the effectiveness of business transnationalization is its quantitative growth. Thus, according to UNCTAD, in 2000 there were 65 thousand multinational companies in the world that had 850 thousand branches around the world, whereas in 2018 their number was 104 thousand corporations with 890 thousand branches (UNCTAD World Investment Report (2000, 2019)). The number of foreign assets increased 15-fold over the same period, from $7 trillion in 2000 to $104 trillion in 2018. At the same time, the share of TNCs in the total global GDP in 2018 was 11.3%.

The qualitative indicators of TNCs should also be considered when analyzing their impact on trans-regional processes ^[7]. In general, one of the natural trends is the rapid qualitative breakthrough of non-American multinational companies from countries such as China, India, Brazil, Singapore, South Korea, etc.(List of 2000 largest companies according to Forbes. URL: https://www.forbes.com/global2000/#1235da6a335d ) Another notable feature was that for many companies whose activities are related to online commerce, 2020 was very successful due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding increase in online shopping in the world.

The trend towards transregionalization of business today is obvious and manifests itself in the following: 1) an increase in the number of trans-regional projects, some of which have both a cooperative nature of interaction (BRICS or EU-ASEAN cooperation) and a highly competitive potential (Belt and Road vs Trans-Pacific Partnership); 2) most trans-regional associations are still in the nature of "projects" (including "frozen" ones like TTIP) or "initiatives", which means that states are going through a complex negotiation process, including taking into account the interests of non-state stakeholders.

TNCs in trans-regional processes: participation toolsFor a more accurate understanding of the impact of individual large TNCs on trans-regional projects of our time, it seems appropriate to consider cases of various types: Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership projects, the interregional agreement between the EU and Mercosur, as well as the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a preferential trade agreement signed by 12 countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Later, the United States withdrew from the Agreement by the decision of former President Donald Trump on January 23, 2017, and at the moment the TPP continues its development of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP-11).

The history of the Trans-Pacific Partnership began with the initiative put forward in 2003 by Singapore, New Zealand and Chile. In fact, for several years, no serious actions have been taken to implement the tasks set out in the Agreement. The situation changed when the United States became interested in the TPP in 2008, which immediately increased the international status of the project and led to the involvement of new states. The negotiation process between the 12 countries that have expressed a desire to participate in the TPP has been going on for three years (2010-2013) and consisted of 19 rounds. The final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement was signed in Atlanta on October 5, 2015 and entered into force in February 2016.

The main goal of the TPP is a significant reduction or even abolition of duties on goods, capital and services imported into the participating countries, as well as an overall improvement in the investment attractiveness of each of the countries ^{[8; 9]}. De facto, the analysis of the provisions of the Agreement revealed an imbalance between measures relating exclusively to trade and economic relations between countries and measures aimed at expanding the rights of transnational corporations. The fact is that only 6 of the 30 chapters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement are directly devoted to trade issues, while the remaining 26 chapters enshrine the rights of TNCs ^[10].

In particular, the provisions of the TPP include measures aimed at expanding patent regimes, which, first of all, will have the most beneficial effect on the activities of large pharmaceutical companies. This thesis is clearly confirmed by the results of a study conducted by The Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit organization, which found that from 2009 to 2013, pharmaceutical companies and associations lobbied most actively for the signing of the TPP agreement (251 reports) (How Big Pharma (and others) began lobbying on the Trans-Pacific Partnership before you ever heard of it. URL: https://sunlightfoundation.com/2014/03/13/tpp-lobby/). A striking example of such a method of achieving results on the part of TNCs is the activity of the management of Johnson and Johnson, which is one of the largest representatives of the pharmaceutical industry in the United States and the world. Representatives of this company were part of the group of TPP negotiators as "stakeholders representatives", pushing through the interests of large pharmaceutical TNCs within the framework of the TPP.

The next evidence confirming the business orientation of the TPP is the provision on softening the procedure for specifying the country of manufacture of products. It seems that this measure will allow TNCs to produce goods in countries that are not members of the TPP, while maintaining preferential tax rates. In addition, the text of the TPP agreement provides for a measure aimed at reducing the ability of the governments of the signatory countries to support their local producers, in particular, in the process of concluding government contracts. This means that smaller enterprises will henceforth have to compete on equal terms with the largest multinational corporations, which is actually impossible. Another point reflecting the corporate nature of the TPP agreement is the provision giving the right to TNCs, especially those representing the oil and coal sectors, to appeal to the courts against the environmental policy and laws of the home State. In fact, this provision gives TNCs legal personality in matters of conducting disputes with States, which again indicates the high interest of TNCs in such projects.

According to the information already mentioned by The Sunlight Corporation, automakers are also on the list of leaders in lobbying their interests under the TPP (101 reports). In this regard, it is worth noting the policy of Ford Motors, whose leadership has obtained from Congress the inclusion in the final text of the TPP agreement of points limiting the possibility of manipulation on the difference in exchange rates (we are talking, first of all, about Japan, which artificially restrained the export value of cars imported by them to the United States by underestimating the exchange rate of these currencies countries against the US dollar) (Addressing Currency Manipulation Key to Trade Deal. URL: https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/10/currency-manipulation-provision-emerges-as-key-to-pacific-trade-deal). In addition, the CCI offers advantageous conditions for companies such as the Entertainment Software Association, Pharmaceutical Research, Manufactures of America, General Electric. In addition, the list of leaders in lobbying interests, in addition to these representatives of business sectors, includes farmers, in particular, companies such as "American Farm Bureau", "Dairy Farmers of America", etc. (82 reports) and representatives of IT services, including organizations such as Net Coalition, Yahoo! Inc et al. (over 50 reports).

Of particular interest is the case of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which is a potential preferential trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. Representatives of the largest German companies in the main industries actively support the agreement with the United States. The main lobbyist of the TTIP in Germany is the automotive industry, since the share of exports of automotive products from Germany to the United States is about a quarter of all exports. The leading supplier of German cars in the United States is the Volkswagen carmaker, which has earned about 36 million euros from sales of passenger cars in North America. Upon reaching an agreement on the TTIP, the German automotive industry will receive additional opportunities to sell its products in the United States while reducing transaction costs. The second most important item in the bilateral trade turnover of the United States and Germany is machinery and equipment, exports to the United States of which increased significantly in 2014 against the background of the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions. Chemical industry products are the third largest export of Germany to the United States. Here, the Verbandder ChemischenIndustrie (VCI) Union of chemical industry entrepreneurs requires special attention, which includes more than 1.5 thousand companies whose total exports of products reach $20 billion (360 Employees at 50 Locations Worldwide. URL: https://www.gtai.de/gtai-en).

Nevertheless, there is no consensus in the European business community on the conclusion of a final agreement with the United States ^[12]. Thus, the active opponent of TTIP in Europe are farmers, especially the countries of the Mediterranean coast, whose economies are tied to the intra-European market. Reaching an agreement with the United States means reducing the high sanitary measures that currently exist in the European Union, and also jeopardizes the position of local farmers who will not be able to compete with more competitive US products. The main representative of the interests of farmers was former French President Francois Hollande, who refused to sign an agreement with the United States, citing his unwillingness to undermine the country's key principles for agriculture (France will oppose the TTIP at this stage of negotiations. URL: https://ria.ru/20160503/1425521478.html). It is noteworthy that the main group of opponents of the TTIP in France are not large trade unions, but representatives of small and medium-sized farms producing high-quality products. According to the Corporate Europe Observatory study, the most active lobbyists of their interests in the preparatory phase of the TTIP negotiations were representatives of EU agribusiness who applied to the Trade Department of the European Commission to promote their provisions in the terms of the Agreement (Corporate Europe Observatory. URL: https://corporateeurope.org/en/pressreleases/2014/07/agribusiness-biggest-lobbyist-eu-us-trade-deal-new-research-reveals). It is also worth noting that not representatives of small and medium-sized farming in Europe lobbied their interests, namely large multinational companies such as Nestl?, Mondelez, Cargill, FoodDrinkEurope, representing the interests of such giants as Coca Cola and Unilever in Europe, Eucolait, Spirits Europe, the European Association of Feed Producers (FEFAC), etc. In total, according to the organization, in the period from January 2012 to February 2014. The European Commission's Trade Department held almost 600 closed-door meetings with representatives of lobbying groups to discuss the progress of the TTIP negotiations. Of the total number of meetings held, 88% (528) were with representatives of the business community. An important feature of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership as a mega-agreement is the introduction of a dispute settlement tool between a foreign investor and the state (Investor-state dispute settlement, ISDS). This mechanism was supposed to consolidate the practice for multinational companies to directly participate in disputes within the framework of international arbitration without mediation of the represented State.

The activity of the European Union in building trans-regional chains of interdependence has acquired new outlines with the signing on June 28, 2019 of the Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area with MERCOSUR (the EU and Mercosur have concluded a free trade agreement. URL: https://www.interfax.ru/business/667137/). Negotiations between representatives of the European Union and MERCOSUR lasted almost twenty years. By creating such a free trade zone, both economic associations expect to receive new sources of income by reducing or completely eliminating export duties on a number of industrial goods, which often reached exorbitant values ^[13]. Like almost any vital issue for the political and economic development of the European Union, the process of ratification of the Agreement with MERCOSUR has clearly been delayed. As you know, at the moment the ratification process in the EU has been suspended: the legislative bodies of countries such as Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Italy and France refused to support the conclusion of the world's largest trade agreement (The Rio Times. URL: https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/brazil/european-parliament-rejects-eu-mercosur-agreement-over-brazils-environmental-policy-concerns/).

According to some analysts, there are two reasons for the delayed ratification process (Global Risk Insights. URL: https://globalriskinsights.com/2020/12/the-uncertain-future-of-the-eu-mercosur-trade-agreement /). Firstly, European farmers simply will not be able to compete with cheaper agricultural products from South America. It is for this reason that trade unions and lobbying organizations in Europe have launched an active campaign against the EU-MEKROSUR Agreement. It is worth saying that the initiative of farmers has found a response in the high offices of Brussels. Thus, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, at a meeting with ministers of relevant departments of the EU member states, said that with a positive outcome of the transaction, European goods will simply be swept off the shelves by cheap products of the MERCOSUR countries (Euractiv. URL: https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/eu-farm-chief-struggles-to-dispel-concerns-over-mercosur-trade-deal/). Secondly, many Europeans are concerned about the possible environmental consequences of the Agreement. In this regard, many accuse the Brazilian government of deliberate afforestation of the Amazon and massive fires, linking the increase in imports of soybeans, for the cultivation of which acreage is needed, and this catastrophic situation for the environment (CNBC. URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/23/brazils-bolsonaro-hits-back-at-frances-macron-over-amazon-fires.html). The provisions of the EU-MERCOSUR agreement regarding public procurement, services and intellectual property rights reflect the business orientation of the project. According to foreign analysts, preference in these points of the Agreement is given, first of all, to large European corporations ^{[13, p. 131]}. For example, it is envisaged to conduct public procurement at all levels within the framework of international tenders, which will primarily harm small and medium-sized enterprises in MERCOSUR countries that are unable to win competition from European giants. A similar situation is developing with intellectual property rights.

An analysis of the main provisions of the document indicates that the Agreement has a clear focus on further enrichment of large European TNCs who are ready to sacrifice the position of the EU agricultural sector in favor of their interests. At the same time, a certain imbalance in the positions of European and Latin American businesses is likely to worsen, since the provisions of the Agreement are clearly lobbied by large TNCs of the automotive, pharmaceutical, chemical and IT sectors of the European Union. In this situation, we should expect an even greater increase in the dependence of MERCOSUR markets on the needs of European TNCs, which, according to A.I. Yemelyanov, boils down to the notorious formula "center-periphery" or "colony-metropolis" ^[14].

When considering the problems of the development of trans–regional ties in the world, it is impossible not to touch upon the largest, and perhaps the most actively developing region in this regard - the Eurasian continent. Within the framework of this study, the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by China is of the greatest interest – the largest network of logistics corridors on the continent connecting transport flows throughout the mainland and beyond.

There is no doubt that China currently plays one of the leading roles in building the global economic landscape. To successfully maintain this role, China needed to offer the world community its own vision of the development of the world economic system, while not openly opposing its long-existing Western model. According to A.A. Kireeva, the Belt and Road initiative is a new stage of the PRC's economic strategy, called "going outside" ^{[15, pp. 61-74]}. The goal of this strategy is the gradual integration of China into the world economy through increasing China's investments in foreign countries.

The slowdown in economic growth in the conditions of the "new normality", when the country's GDP growth rate decreased from 10.6% in 2010 to 6.5% in 2018 (World Bank. URL: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?end=2018&locations=CN&page=5&start=2005), as well as the consequences of COVID-19, sets the task for the leadership of the People's Republic of China to find ways to restructure the economic model, which, first of all, consists in the transition from extensive to intensive economic development. Another major internal economic reason for the Belt and Road initiative may be the desire of the PRC leadership to give an additional impetus to the most economically backward regions of China, mainly western ^[16].

TNCs have become one of the tools of economic modernization for China, turning into one of the key aspects in the whole network of socio-economic plans of the state ("Going outside", a comprehensive Plan for the development of the economy and society of the People's Republic of China, etc.). According to domestic researcher E.F. Avdokushin, the strategic role of the Belt and Road initiative in the context of the organization of trans-regional activities The Chinese TNCs are as follows ^{[17, p. 67-76]}: providing comprehensive support to foreign branches of Chinese companies from the government of the country; infrastructure construction to unite the markets of developing countries into a single space for Chinese TNCs; providing free access of Chinese goods to world markets; ensuring the free movement of Chinese capital; ensuring free access of Chinese workers to foreign countries, training of personnel loyal to China in host countries.

Railway construction is a separate most important tool for promoting the Belt and Road. One of the leading Chinese companies in this field is the state-owned China Railway Express (CR Express). In 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China launched a project, the essence of which was to unite disparate railway companies in Eurasia under a single CR Express brand for more effective coordination of transcontinental railway communication (Belt and Road Portal. URL: https://www.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/zchj/xzcjd/6641.htm). The project provides for the creation of two categories of routes – China-Europe and China-Central Asia.

The Chinese Government primarily seeks to ensure that their TNCs take the most active part in the construction of international projects. That is why Chinese TNCs sometimes act from a position of strength, directing the progress of the project, which gives them more opportunities to use their potential (production capacity, resources, labor, etc.). In this scenario, the possibility of capital outflow from the PRC itself is reduced to almost zero ^{[18, p. 121]}, which, of course, great is the merit of the country's leadership, which seeks to acquire new sales markets and logistics centers with the least losses for high profitability in the long term. Another important area of implementation of trans-regional activities of Chinese TNCs is energy. The main players here are the three largest oil and gas companies in China – CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation), CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) and Sinopec. In total, these companies operate in more than 100 countries on all continents. Being one of the largest oil suppliers and producers in the world, Chinese companies are helping to overcome the traditional problem of the Chinese economy – dependence on hydrocarbon resources.

China, as part of its trans-regional strategy, is guided by investments in large infrastructure projects, one way or another related to the practical implementation of the Belt and Road. For example, China is actively developing "nuclear diplomacy". In 2015, Chinese companies obtained permission to build six nuclear power plants in South Africa at a total cost of $93 billion. In the same year, China National Nuclear Corporation won a tender for the construction of nine nuclear power units in Argentina. In total, Chinese companies intend to build 30 power units by 2030 ^{[19, p. 5-16]}.

A distinctive feature of the PRC's energy diplomacy is the development of foreign resources through the use of foreign deposits. A very remarkable example is the production of batteries, for which cobalt is needed. With the help of its multinational company Huayou Cobalt, the country managed to take control of a significant part of the world's cobalt production, thereby exerting a great influence on the activities of Western technology corporations that are consumers of this metal (Apple, Tesla, etc.) ^[20].

The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative opens up broad prospects for inter-entrepreneurial cooperation between the participating countries. In recent years, Chinese enterprises have built 56 zones of economic and trade cooperation and invested more than $18.5 billion within the framework of the Initiative. investments, paid almost $ 1.1 billion in taxes and created 180 thousand jobs in more than 20 countries around the world. These data allow us to state that the role of Chinese TNCs in the implementation of the Belt and Road is really great.

The role and problems of TNC participation in trans-regional projectsThe considered cases, which present the role of transnational corporations in promoting various kinds of trans-regional initiatives, allow us to highlight the main features of the functioning of multinational companies in different countries of the world.

First of all, the goal of TNCs is to penetrate the markets of other countries and get more consumers of their products. When discussing all four analyzed trans-regional projects, the actors, first of all, proceeded from their economic benefits. Of course, it is TNCs that become the main channel of profit within the framework of such interaction. At the same time, it is important to note that in the case of the TPP, TTIP and the Agreement between the EU and MERCOSUR, the interest in acquiring new consumer markets was reciprocal, and the initiative to conclude an agreement equally came from all interested parties. The example of the Chinese Belt and Road project is somewhat different, since in this case the Chinese government alone put forward the initiative, making it open for any state to join. However, the main goal of the IPP is also to open new spaces for the exchange of products and the modernization of existing sustainable supply chains. In this regard, the main resource of TNCs to acquire new markets for the sale of products are connections with state actors who formally initiate various projects, while informally reflecting the interests of business corporations involved in the implementation of such initiatives.

Secondly, the purpose of TNCs within the framework of trans-regional initiatives may also be to change the legal framework of the "host States" in order to achieve more acceptable working conditions. This practice was reflected in the process of concluding the TTIP agreement, when food multinational corporations with American capital, such as Nestl?, Mondelez and Cargill, lobbied their interests to reduce the high European phytosanitary standards for food, as well as to lift restrictions on the import of genetically modified products from the United States, which, in fact, it has become one of the most important obstacles to signing the deal. Thus, the main resource of TNCs in the process of changing the legislation of the "recipient country" is lobbying, which consists in the activities of "interest groups" promoting their motives to achieve specific goals.

Thirdly, the task of transnational business in trans-regional associations is to increase the protection of foreign direct investment (FDI) regimes. According to A.S. Afontsev, TNCs can influence the development of global economic processes through three mechanisms – official (OECD, UNCTAD, WTO, IMF, etc.), mixed (partnership of state and non-state actors) and private (independent activity) ^{[21, pp. 52-64]}. Official channels are sometimes unable to develop the necessary mechanisms for global regulation; that is why, since the 2000s, TNCs have begun to pay more attention to lobbying regional and transregional agreements that provide high incentives for FDI. In this case, the main resource of TNCs is both their financial and investment weight in the world, and the representation of their interests in large international organizations and regional structures.

Fourth, the objectives of TNCs' activities may also be socially oriented in their home countries in order to increase their attractiveness, which, in the end, may positively affect the company's profits, as well as the spread of the "soft power" of the represented state. An illustrative example in this regard is the activity of Chinese TNCs in the Belt and Road space, which adhere to the principle of developing local economic potential, paying taxes to the local government, investing and creating jobs. Based on this, mainly developing countries that need close cooperation with a strong Chinese economy are putting forward their projects to combine the efforts of the parties within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (for example, the projects of the EAEU, the Mongolian Prairie Road, the “Bright Path” of Kazakhstan, “Two Corridors and One Ring” Vietnam, Saudi Arabia's “Saudi Vision 2030”, Turkey's “Middle Corridor Initiative”, etc. with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative) ^{[22, pp. 101-108]}. In this regard, the resource of TNCs in the field of socially responsible behavior is reduced to the presence of internal codes of conduct and strategies to promote their positive image. At the same time, states are also interested in their companies enjoying a positive reputation in their home countries, so it is logical to talk about such a resource as state support as part of the promotion of "soft power".Thus, the analysis allows us to state that transnational corporations, having different goals of participation in a particular trans-regional association, use appropriate resources to implement their interests.

In general , the objectives of TNCs in the framework of trans-regional initiatives can be divided as follows: 1) economic – the basic motive of business activity is an increase in profits and expansion, which consists in the increment of new sales markets; 2) political – are expressed in the general line of the state represented by TNCs to implement its geo–economic strategy, within which multinational business serves as an instrument for the implementation of the government's political plans; 3) image – are derived from economic goals and they represent the activities of TNCs in the transnational space for the development of socially responsible behavior. When achieving certain goals, TNCs can use various resources, such as government, consulting (lobbying) and internal (codes of conduct, development strategies, etc.).

Models of interaction between TNCs and the stateModel No. 1. Initiator State, beneficiary TNC (cases of TPP, TTIP and EU-MERCOSUR Agreements).

The model is a system of relations between the state and transnational business, in which the former initiates the nomination of a trans-regional initiative, while the latter uses the favorable terms of the trans-regional agreement to expand the sphere of economic influence on the regions in which TNCs are present. The above initiatives are a typical example of business-oriented projects that reflect the interests of large multinational companies and which have a number of similar characteristics in terms of the influence of TNCs on the implementation of these projects, which allows them to be classified into a separate group. Firstly, all of the agreements presented satisfy the interests of TNCs in large industrial sectors of the economy (automotive, pharmaceuticals, chemical industry, agriculture). Secondly, in all projects, great attention is paid to the rights of investors in the territory of another State party to the agreement to the detriment of the interests of the state itself. In fact, this means that the countries that are signatories to a particular project officially agree to respect the corporate interests of foreign partners in order to attract large investments, even despite the possible inconsistency of the actions of transnational business with the legislation of its home state. Thirdly, some of the projects involve the introduction of a special dispute settlement system between investors and the state, the so-called "Investor-state dispute settlement" (ISDS).  Fourth, in all the initiatives mentioned above, the main tool for promoting their interests, which is in service with TNCs, is lobbying in its various forms. In the course of the study, it was proved that there is a close relationship between representatives of large business structures and official bodies of a particular state, which consists in finding a compromise to respect mutual interests. Thus, in this model of relations, TNCs seek to impose on the state the most acceptable conditions for their functioning at the trans-regional level, while representatives of the country's ruling elite are interested in observing their political and geo-economic interests assigned to a specific trans-regional project, while using the economic power of TNCs. In addition, it is important to note that in such a model, TNCs act as a separate, practically independent actor capable of achieving certain interests in trans-regional projects through close cooperation with state authorities.

Model No. 2. The state is the initiator, TNK is the implementation tool (the Belt and Road case).This model is based on the leading role of the state in making political and economic decisions at the trans-regional level.

Such a system of relationships is characterized by the fact that the state, as well as in the first case, initiates the nomination of a trans-regional project, and transnational business is considered as a tool for promoting and implementing the project. The most illustrative example of this kind of model is the Belt and Road initiative described above. China, being the main initiator of the project, was primarily guided by its geopolitical aspirations to streamline cross-Eurasian supply chains to simplify mutual trade. TNCs in this case are considered by the Chinese leadership as the main channel for the implementation of these goals. This kind of model also has its own distinctive features. Firstly, TNCs in such a system of relations do not have a full-scale geopolitical and geo-economic actor. Of course, we are not talking about the complete dependence of TNCs on the state: they have the right to determine the internal order of their activities and everything related to the organization of work at their place of residence, but the directions of their activities are set by the state through, for example, setting strategic objectives for national development, as is the case in China. Secondly, TNCs and the state represent a kind of symbiosis, the essence of which boils down to the fact that the interests of the state and large transnational business are inseparable. Thirdly, such a model implies a slightly different form of organization of transnational corporations. To a greater extent, such companies are state-owned or hybrid, which is conditioned by the requirement to follow a foreign economic strategy. Such a format of organizing TNCs in these circumstances seems very logical, since it reduces transaction costs for the implementation of a trans-regional initiative and speeds up the decision-making process. Fourth, the state is interested in providing comprehensive support to transnational business, which also determines the subordinate nature of TNCs in relation to the state ^{[18, p. 139]}. Thus, the implementation of model No. 2 in the system of state-TNC relations is possible in countries with centralized economies and team planning, where the state is the leading link in the promotion of transregional initiatives, with political tools for controlling TNCs, which in turn are often a tool for promoting state-sponsored initiatives at the transregional level.

At the moment, these classifications of models of relations between states and TNCs are seen as the most common and effective both from the point of view of maintaining a balance of interests of actors, and from the point of view of the implementation of a project.

ConclusionThe relevance of studying trans-regional processes as such and their impact on the development of the entire system of world politics in our time is becoming increasingly obvious.

Cooperation between States is deepening at the trans-regional level, as evidenced by the number of such agreements and associations. Transnational corporations, being one of the main drivers of global economic development, will undoubtedly continue to increase production volumes, and their expansion will continue largely due to an increase in the number and quality of trans-regional initiatives. Nevertheless, it is hardly worth talking about the weakening role of the state in the process of transregionalization of world politics. The fact that the scale of the activities of TNCs continues to acquire an increasingly global character, determining the economic development of countries and even regions of the world, does not deny that states are still the main actors in world politics. The analyzed cases indicate that at the moment, TNCs within the framework of the world economic system built by states, including at the trans-regional level, are forced to follow the rules developed by states. However, the influence of TNCs on the development of trans-regional processes in the world will largely depend on the political will of States and their intention to preserve their sovereignty in the conditions of transformation of the Westphalian system of political organization of the world.