Kaliningrad Oblast is a total economic failure rife with crimes such as drug trafficking and car thefts. It is a known transit point for stolen cars. Russia was ready to hand it over to Poland in the 1990s but Poland refused to take it over. Russia is happy to let it go, but there are no takers.
After Lithuania gained independence from the Soviet Union after the end of the Cold War, Kaliningrad Oblast became an enclave of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. Furthermore, the shipbuilding industry declined due to the worsening demand for shipbuilding after the Cold War, and the unemployment rate increased.
The economic situation deteriorated to such an extent that 40% of the city's citizens were said to be living in poverty, and the price of amber also skyrocketed among smugglers.
For a while after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a dream of creating a ``Hong Kong on the Baltic Sea'' by taking advantage of the geographical location of the countries of Eastern Europe, but things are far from being that way. Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia prepared a plan to make the area part of Poland (in exchange, Germany would receive Szczecin), but this idea fell through and was ultimately left as is.
Kaliningrad's economy has collapsed, and due to the city's location in the center of Eastern Europe, a variety of crimes are occurring throughout Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, and a transit point for stolen cars.
The security situation worsened to the point that the area was used as a base for many people, and infectious diseases such as AIDS began to spread. Furthermore, toxic waste from the era of military cities was left behind, and uninhabitable land spread throughout the region.