Eskil Strand, a master’s student at IRES, recipient of the 2025 Swedish Chamber of Commerce for Eurasia Thesis Award

For the sixth consecutive year, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce for Eurasia, in cooperation with the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies (IRES), is awarding a thesis scholarship totaling SEK 20,000. The recipient of the 2025 scholarship is Eskil Strand, a master’s student at Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, for his master’s thesis “The EU's Secondary Sanction Threat and Its Impact on Sanctions-Busters: A Multi-Method Comparative Analysis of Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan”.

The winning contribution fulfilled the intentions of the scholarship while also demonstrating academic rigor and strong analytical ability. In addition, the thesis addresses a highly topical subject. It is therefore a thesis of considerable relevance to Swedish businesses engaged in trade and commercial relations with several Eurasian markets, where sanctions imposed by the international community are in effect and where attempts are being made to circumvent them.

This year, a total of 27 submissions were received from students at, among others, the Swedish Defence University, University of Gothenburg, Linnaeus University, Lund University, Stockholm University, and Uppsala University.

We would like to thank everyone who submitted their theses and wish them the very best of luck in the future!