Page 53 - RusRPTMar21

become the world's largest wheat exporter. However, strong growth in food exports also accelerated the rise in domestic food prices, especially at the end of last year. In order to curb the rise in prices, Russia has set export quotas and export taxes, e.g. for grain,” BOFIT said in its note.
As a natural hedge, the value of imports usually falls in a crisis, especially if there is an associated devaluation of the currency; the Russian ruble lost about 20% of its value in 2020 on the back of the economic shocks and rising geopolitical uncertainty of possible new sanctions by the new US Biden administration.
However, these problems had less of an impact on imports than analysts were expecting. The value of Russian imports of goods fell by only 5% last year, despite the sharp contraction in demand caused by the interest rate pandemic and the weakening of the ruble, BOFIT reports.
“Of the largest product groups, imports of chemical products contracted the most, by 12%. The value of pharmaceutical imports decreased by up to 30%,” BOFIT reports. “In contrast, the value of food imports fell by only 1% and machinery, equipment and transport equipment by 2%. Imports of machinery and equipment picked up, especially at the end of the year. The value of imports of electrical equipment even increased slightly last year. Import volumes of several foods also increased last year.”
53 RUSSIA Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com