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In the last decade, the Italian natural gas market has undergone profound changes. The slow ongoing process of liberalization that began in 2000 has produced many changes in the industry as companies have had to react to the new regulatory framework. Many companies have sought agreements, alliances and mergers to consolidate their position in the market, other companies have sought to diversify their product range by becoming multi-utility companies, others, unable to react to the new competitive pressures, have gone bankrupt. The aim of the work is to analyse the performance of natural gas retail companies after the liberalization of the sector.

The authors carry out a financial statement analysis for indexes in order to evaluate business management in terms of the financial, profitability and liquidity aspects. The authors analysed a sample of 111 companies operating in Italy for a six-year period (2004-2009) following the full liberalization of the sector (January 1, 2003).

Results show that many of the firms in the sample are suffering from a reduction in profits and present serious financial weaknesses. In particular, the companies that perform the worst are the small, new entrants and those in the south of Italy. In regard to the new entrants it should be noted that although more than ten years have passed since the beginning of the liberalization process, entry barriers are still present. As regards the business diversification, the best financial and operating results are achieved by large firms, listed companies and those which grew mainly through M&As.

Even though there are numerous theoretical and empirical studies on the effects of diversification strategies and M&As, very few researchers have analyzed these effects in the context of a liberalization process of an energy sector. Starting from this gap in the literature, the work aims to analyse the strategies implemented by the Italian companies in the natural gas retail segment.

The empirical findings will help the policy makers of Italy in understanding that more than ten years since the beginning of the natural gas market liberalization, entry barriers are still present. Although all consumers have been free to choose their supplier since 2003, the incumbent firms have maintained a dominant position in the market, thanks to a “weak” unbundling (often the incumbent retail operator belongs to the same group as the distribution network operator) and to the advantage in the supply phase by means of a long-term contract with a “take or pay” clause.

Italy has always been characterized by the centrality of natural gas in its energy basket and it is the third European country for annual consumption. Despite the importance of this energy source, no substantial work has been done in this regard with reference to Italy.

The present study aims to provide a roadmap for meeting the carbon-free, green energy production target within the stipulated period while also considering climate targets through a sustainable auctioning scheme.

The research outlines the opportunity to design auctions based on qualitative research, the impact of auctions on energy costs and thus the feasibility of suggested auctioning schemes based on country-specific empirical evidence and benefits.

The conclusions show that this may result in various advantages for emerging economies relating to technology-neutral site-specific auctions if designed according to state-specific socio-economic conditions.

The planned addition to the state-of-the-art in the renewable energy (RE) field of this paper is that it intends to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The analysis has concepts for research, practice and/or community. Thus, it can serve as a primary source of literature reference for those willing to learn more about the aspects of cost related to RE.

The focus of this paper is the emergence of Russia's multinational companies. It aims to analyse their motives to internationalise as well as the approaches to internationalisation. While relevance of the theoretical perspectives is highlighted, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the present‐day phenomenon of emerging Russian multinationals.

The paper relies on a qualitative approach for the analysis of the nature of Russian multinationals. The phenomenon of the emerging Russian multinationals is analysed through the prism and using insights from a number of subjects, namely transition studies, politics, innovation studies and international business studies.

The paper traces the evolution of Russian companies; the idiosyncratic path of their formation serves as a background for understanding of their internationalisation strategies. A special attention is devoted to the R&D activities of Russian multinational companies, and access to foreign technology is found to be an important driver of internationalisation.

The paper highlights relevance of further research on Russian multinationals and outlines research avenues.

The paper is rich in its practical implications. Specifically, it elaborates on the European Union‐Russian bilateral relations and the role of Russian multinationals in the European economies. The issue of political involvement is raised, and the paper seeks to identify whether Russian companies serve as tools of foreign policy, or they operate as business agents.

Despite their increasingly important role in the global economy, Russian companies have been largely overshadowed by the emergence of Indian and Chinese multinationals and not sufficiently addressed, even neglected, in the literature. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to fill in some gaps in the literature regarding this research area.

This article seeks to examine the strategic options open to transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe in the face of intense competition in two highly sensitive economic sectors within the EU.

This exploratory paper makes use of cross‐country case analysis.

The investigation demonstrated that protective mechanisms are used in veiled fashion to some degree even amongst the more economically advanced members of the EU and not just the transition economies as commonly perceived. It further argues that whilst a free and open EU will contribute to the quicker full realisation of its common market aspirations, transition economies are currently not adequately prepared for its required economic adjustments. Transition economies may need to respond in measured phases, taking into account its economic and political limitations. Otherwise, it might not be able to withstand the full onslaught of globalisation.

This research challenges the one size fits all notion of zealous free marketers and offers a middle ground strategic option for transition economies in the EU for further evaluation by policy makers and academics alike.

This research uses two highly economic sectors in the EU to argue for a more middle ground strategic economic strategy for transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe. This contrasts with the more global agenda of liberal economics.