The article focuses on peculiarities of present-day positions of CIS countries and Georgia in the geoeconomic pattern of the world. An explanation for causes of some significant differences between results of international economic comparisons (including the latest ones) is given. Data which characterize multivariant estimates of the levels of economic development of various countries are provided. Particular attention is drawn to the values of per capita GDP of Russia, Central Asian and South Caucasian states, provided by such international organizations as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Center for International Comparisons at the University of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The authors emphasize the fact the differences between the estimates of per capita GDP (and, consequently, between the levels of economic development) of some countries reach 30−50−70%, and in some cases even two or more times. Based on the totals of international comparisons, the authors show how the balance between economic development of Russia and the United States (as well as between Russia and the world’s per capita GDP average) changed from the beginning of XX century to early 2000's.

The paper focuses on multivariate and controversial estimates of economic size and development level of China in the late 20th — early 21st centuries. The correlations of the economic potentials of China, Russia and the United States at the beginning of the 20th and early 21st centuries are considered. The reliability of International comparison program 2005 results for defining the countries' positions in the geoeconomic structure of the modern world is discussed. In conclusion, authors attempt to summarize the economic development of the «rich» and «poor» regions of the Earth over the past 2,000 years.

The paper highlights the problem of multi-variance of estimates of gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is the basic indicator of the size of the economy, the level of development and country’s position in the geoeconomic structure of the modern world. GDP data (derived from purchasing power parities of national currencies) for European, Asian, African and American countries sometimes differ by tens of percent or even several times. In the paper is given the description of the International Comparison Program (ICP) that is the main source of the PPP data. Particular attention is paid to ICP 2005 results that caused serious controversy among experts in the field of international comparisons.