Page 12 - RusRPTJul21

target level of emissions and allows for the implementation of climate projects, with companies able to exchange carbon units,. That basically introduces a system of carbon trading.
2.4 Russian regions' contraction in 2020 was mild and some regions even saw growth.
In the spring of last year, the economies of different regions contracted in very different ways and in some regions the economy even grew, reports Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition (BOFIT) in its weekly economic update.
“The contraction remained relatively short-lived in many parts of Russia. This is reflected in the data for the whole of 2020, according to which, among the eight Russian federal districts, the manufacturing industry did not shrink much in the five federal districts, which together account for more than 90% of the country's total manufacturing output,” BOFIT said.
“In the central and Urals districts, production even increased by 5-6% from 2019, and in the other three districts (northwest, Volga and Siberia) it decreased by only half to 2%,” BOFIT added.
Russia weathered the corona-storm of 2020 surprisingly well and the economy returned to growth and was clearly gathering momentum in April, according to the latest statistics.
Total investments were 2% higher in January-March than a year ago, after annual growth of 3.5% in January-March last year.
According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs' forecast, GDP grew by almost 11% year on year in April. However, the ministry estimates that GDP will still be slightly lower than before the crisis.
Production in the extractive industries has also increased in recent months, but its recovery is still hampered by the restrictions on crude oil production set out in the OPEC + agreement.
And two core sectors of the economy that are responsible for a large part of its economic growth were barely dented by the crisis: construction and agriculture suffered relatively little from the corona crisis in general. Construction output did not contract last year and in April its growth picked up markedly, according to BOFIT.
Consumption, a third major economic driver, also put absolutely gains year-on-year, even after excluding the low base effects. Retail trade was already clearly higher than before the crisis. Other service sectors have also recovered briskly, but their production was still 6% lower in April than in 2019. The production of services contracted the most sharply last spring, as interest rate restrictions hit many service sectors in particular.
12 RUSSIA Country Report July 2021 www.intellinews.com