Page 55 - RusRPTJul21

5.0 External Sector & Trade 5.1 External sector overview
The foreign trade turnover of Russia provisionally gained 18% and climbed to $253bn over the first five months of 2021, the head of the Federal Customs Service Vladimir Bulavin told TASS in an interview on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
"We can say the ‘coronavirus crisis’ affected the trade turnover of the Russian Federation. In 2020, the turnover lost 15%. Export tumbled by almost 21% and import — by 5.3%. Customs statistical data shows the economy is recovering in 2021. We assume the trade turnover surged by almost 18%," Bulavin said.
"This is over 5 months. Why do we assume? This is because we have statistical reporting by declarations and also statistical forms of mutual trade for the Eurasian Economic Union. They are coming to us with a certain delay. Nevertheless, it can be stated the turnover increased by nearly 18% and reached about $253bn," the official said.
Both export and import show growth, Bulavin said. "Export and import demonstrate growth. It is at the level of 12.2% for export and 25.8% for import.
55 RUSSIA Country Report July 2021 www.intellinews.com