Page 56 - RusRPTDec23

The Baltic states have been ardent supporters of Ukraine but that hasn’t stopped them doing business with Russia. Exports from the Baltic states to Russia and via Central Asia are booming up as of September 2023.
Russian exports to Italy in October 2023 fell by 85% y/y, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics. "Imports from all main non-EU countries declined in annual terms. The largest decline against the previous year was registered in procurements from Russia (-85%); purchases from MERCOSUR (-33.2%) and India (-30.7%) also contracted," the Institute said. Experts noted that the annual drop in import volumes in Italy is explained to a greater degree by lowered energy purchases. Total exports of Italy gained 9.2% year on year, the Institute reported.
● Products
China’s exports of light cars to Russia increased by 543% in cash terms in 2023, Chinese cars have occupied more than a half of the market, business ombudsman Boris Titov said on December 1. “Trade barriers should be reduced further to simulate the bilateral trade... Russian consumers have discovered Chinese cars this year thanks to both a great variety of brands and high quality,” he said.
Russia’s corn exports have almost quadrupled to 1.12mn tonnes in the first four months of the current 2023–2024 agricultural season that started on July 1 to replace Ukraine’s exports, Director of the analytical department at the Russian Grain Union Yelena Tyurina told PRIME on November 2. “In the first four month of the previous season, corn exports amounted to 292,000 tonnes, and this season we exported 1.12mn tonnes from July through October, which is a 4-fold rise,” she said. “It is clear that the figure is influenced by expectations of a y/y fall by 30%, or by 8.5mn tonnes, of Ukraine’s exports this season,” she added. In October, Russia’s corn exports grew 5.5-fold to 446,000 tonnes, according to the union. Director of the Russian Grain Union Arkady Zlochevsky told PRIME that Russia’s ban on exports of durum wheat can prevent local farmers from growing the grain, because it is not demanded much on the internal market. On Wednesday, the Agriculture Ministry suggested banning exports of durum wheat from December 1 until May 31, 2024.
Russia’s Energy Ministry still plans to retain the 2023 figures of coal production and exports at the level of the previous two years, Deputy Minister Igor Mochalnikov said on November 14. "The key goal for 2023 is to hold on to the performance terms of 2022 and 2021, production at 440mn
56 RUSSIA Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com