Page 39 - RusRPTMay19

5.0 External Sector & Trade 5.1 External sector overview
Russia’s foreign trade surplus rises 2.5% to $45bn Jan–Mar, the current account surplus rises 9% to $33bn Jan–Mar and the capital outflow rose 57% to $25.2bn.
The main feature of Russia’s external trade in the first quarter is not so much the rising exports as oil prices spike to over $70 per barrel, but the fall in imports. This is connected to stagnant wages that are depressing retail and in turn depressing imports. The upshot is a healthy current account surplus that is actually a sign of economic weakness.
Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin reported to President Vladimir Putin about the costs of import substitution in 2018, which came to RUB637.5bn were invested in industry and the creation of Russian analogues of foreign products. Of these, the state invested about RUB70bn. At the plenary meeting of the Arctic Forum Putin asked Oreshkina about how much Russia in 2018 invested in import substitution. The minister could not answer this question. The president said this: “I do not remember. The Minister of Economic Development does not remember. But several hundred billions worth.”
39 RUSSIA Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com