Page 39 - RusRPTApr19

($13.9bn) of Russia’s total imports in December.
As an aside Russia is much less exposed to Brexit than its peers in Central Europe as the UK accounted for only 2.1% ($10.4bn) of Russia’s exports and 1.7% ($4.4bn) of its imports in December. That puts the UK on a par with Ukraine which has the same export numbers, but ranks above the UK in terms of imports: Ukraine accounted for 2.3% ($6bn) in December and continues to run an almost $2bn trade deficit with Russia.
Russian goods exports rose by 26% from the previous year. This reflects changes in both quantities and prices. Some of these may prove to be temporary. Energy prices are a major driver of fluctuations in Russia’s case, Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition (BOFIT) reports.
The EU accounted for 46% of Russian exports, while 12% went to China. Two- thirds of earnings from goods exports came from fossil fuels. The combination of a slight increase in oil and gas export volumes and higher world prices raised export earnings by a third. In addition to fossil fuels, there were also significant increases in exports of metals and grains. With the bumper crop of autumn 2017, 2018 wheat exports were up by a third from 2017. Russia produces about 10% of the world’s wheat. In recent years, about half of Russia’s wheat production has gone to exports.
The trend in exports last year was not reflected in imports. Russians spent only 5% more on imported goods in 2018 than in the previous year. Import growth was depressed by the ruble depreciation of more than 10% against the dollar and euro.
About 37% of Russia’s goods imports last year came from the EU and 22% from China. While half of imports consisted of machinery, equipment and vehicles, growth in the category was modest. Pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs were also important import good categories.
Preliminary balance of payments figures for the fourth quarter of 2018 show Russian revenues from exports of goods and services were up nearly 20% y/y even if the growth was no longer as fast as in the previous quarter. For the entire year, export earnings were up by over 20% as revenues from energy exports ballooned by over 30% on strong export prices.
Russia’s spending on imports of goods and services in the second half of last year was unchanged from 2H17. For all of 2018, spending on imports was up by a few percent. The spending of Russian travellers abroad was up by about 10% for the year although the growth stopped in the fourth quarter. The overwhelming underlying factor was ruble depreciation. Total spending on imports of goods and services in the second half of last year roughly matched 2008 and 2010 levels.
The gap between export earnings and spending on imports widened in 2018 to produce a whopping current account surplus of about 7% of GDP – Russia’s largest current account surplus since 2006.
39 RUSSIA Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com