Page 87 - RusRPTMay21

has fallen to below 50% for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2020 as Russia actively tries to de-dollarize its economy and foreign trade business, Bloomberg reported on April 27.
Most of the fall was due to change in the way Russia and China trade. China is also interested in isolating itself from US pressure as its relations with Washington become increasingly prickly. China has become increasingly outspoken in its support of Moscow in the face of US sanctions pressure and has taken to issuing joint statements with the Kremlin condemning US aggression.
With some $100bn in annual trade turnover, China has become Russia’s single largest trade partner and since 2018 the two partners have begun to settle their mutual trade deals using local currencies instead of dollars. Collectively the EU remains Russia’s largest trading partner as a block with over $200bn of annual trade turnover and much of this is settled in euros.
From a standing start in 2018 today more than three-quarters of Sino-Russian trade is settled in local currencies and euros, according to central bank data published on April 26. The common currency’s share in total exports jumped more than 10percentage points to 36%, the data show.
87 RUSSIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com