Page 100 - RusRPTJun24

America is now ramping up pressure on China to stop selling the high-priority kit. On May 1st it imposed sanctions on nearly 300 foreign entities, including 20 firms from mainland China and Hong Kong. The Treasury Department accused them of helping Russia “acquire key inputs for weapons or defence-related production”. It is unclear whether any of the Chinese firms were acting under the state’s direction.
Trade between Russia and China reached a record high of $240bn in 2023. But having surged by 47% last year to $111bn, China’s exports to Russia have fallen in the past two months, by 16% in March and by 14% in April, year on year. Banking woes are likely to be a factor.
Russia should increase export supplies of pork and by-products to more than 310,000 tonnes, supplies of meat and poultry by-products should exceed 400,000 tonnes by the end of 2024, the Agriculture Ministry reported. In January, the Agriculture Ministry reported that 255,200 tons of pig products were exported in 2023. At the same time, as indicated in the presentation presented by the head of the Russian agriculture watchdog Sergey Dankvert at the final board of the department at the end of March 2024, the export of meat and poultry by-products at the end of 2023 amounted to 309,000 tons.
The EU Increases Frozen Cod and Haddock Imports from Russia Amid Shortage. The EU has increased its purchases of frozen cod and haddock from Russia due to a shortage caused by declining fish stocks and trade restrictions. Russia now accounts for 54.7% of the EU's frozen cod imports, making it the primary supplier. Read this article in full, here:
5.2.2 Current account dynamics
Russia’s current account has continued on surplus this year. The surplus for the first quarter of 2024 amounted to $22 billion.
The current account surplus more than doubled from $15.6bn to $31.7bn between March and April as deficits in services, income, and transfers declined. Along with actions taken by the CBR, improved foreign currency inflows have stabilized the ruble.
The CBR said the surplus was augmented by the contraction in imports, reduced payment of dividends to investors abroad and a reduction in transfers by private persons to accounts abroad. On the financial account, the established trend of a net outflow of capital from the country continued in the first quarter.
On the other hand, the net withdrawal of assets from Russia by foreign investors moderated from previous quarters, falling to around $4 billion.
100 RUSSIA Country Report June 2024 www.intellinews.com