Page 41 - RusRPTDec19

5.0​ External Sector & Trade 5.1​ External sector overview
The value of Russian goods exports contracted by 5% y/y in the first nine months of this year to a level of $390bn​.
The contraction mainly reflected lower oil prices. Combined export volume of crude oil and oil products grew by 1% y/y. While the volume of natural gas exports through pipelines declined slightly, exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) soared with the ramping up of production on the Yamal peninsula this year. Oil & gas still accounted for nearly two-thirds of Russia’s exports.
Other important export products include metals (9% share) and chemical products (6%). While metal exports have contracted this year, exports of chemical products have grown slightly.
The value of Russian goods imports in January-September was essentially unchanged from a year earlier, holding at around 175bn dollars. While growth in imports of chemical products and metals was modest, imports of machinery, equipment & transport vehicles contracted slightly. Machinery, equipment & transport vehicles accounted for nearly half of imports. Other major import categories included chemical products (19%) and foodstuffs (12%).
The EU accounted for 45% Russian goods exports and 36% of goods imports. China was Russia’s largest individual trading partner, accounting for 13% of exports and 22% of imports. Countries in the Eurasian Economic Union accounted for just under 10% of both exports and imports.
Preliminary balance-of-payments figures from the Central Bank of Russia show that the value of Russian imports of goods and services in dollars rose in the third quarter by 4% y/y.
In the first half of this year, the value of imports still contracted slightly. The value of exports of goods and services shrank slightly in the third quarter by 7% y/y on lower oil prices. This caused the current account surplus to contract on-year in the same period. The total current account surplus for the latest four-quarter period was 96bn dollars (nearly 6% of GDP).
The net flow of private sector capital turned slightly negative in the third quarter, amounting to just 1.4bn dollars. Most capital outflows came from the banking sector as Russian banks e.g. further trimmed their foreign debt. For the rest of the private sector, the net flow of capital was positive, supported in part by inward FDI flows. The net outflow of private sector capital in January-September amounted to 25bn dollars declining to some extent from the same period in 2018.
41​ RUSSIA Country Report​ December 2019 ​ ​www.intellinews.com