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The first four months of 2024 saw total Russian imports fall 10.3% year-on-year to $20.9 billion, according to Central Bank data.
Deliveries of electronics, equipment and components to Russia are in decline. In particular, there’s less Turkish machinery and Chinese equipment reaching Russia. In the first three months of 2024 there was a 57% year-on-year fall in imports of “machinery, equipment, vehicles, instruments and apparatus” from Kazakhstan. There were similar falls from Hong Kong (32%) and Serbia (almost 50%), according to The Bell’s calculations.
However, with the U.S. threatening secondary sanctions in late 2023, Russian importers encountered payment problems. Customs data shows that, as a result, first quarter 2024 data for imports to Russia from some of its biggest trading partners fell by about a third. The biggest drop was in imports from Turkey, Hong Kong, Serbia and Kazakhstan.
Imports from China, Russia’s main trading partner, also declined. Over the first four months of 2024, Chinese exports to Russia dropped 2% (in 2023, for comparison, they rose 46.9%). In cash terms, that 2% amounts to more than half abn dollars. Moreover, the monthly dynamics show a downward trend. In January and February exports from China to Russia were up 12.5%. In March they fell by 14.2% and in April by a further 13%.
91 RUSSIA Country Report June 2024 www.intellinews.com