Page 58 - RusRPTJan23

5.0 External Sector & Trade 5.1 External sector overview
Developed nations, particularly those in Europe, have traditionally been Russia’s most important economic partners. This applies to both financial markets and trade relations.
As the countries imposing sanctions on Russia have dominated Russia’s external economic relations, it is very difficult for Russia to compensate for the loss of these financial and trade flows.
Countries that joined in international sanctions on Russia in spring 2022 accounted for about half of Russia’s goods trade in 2021.
Among non-sanctioning countries, Russia’s biggest trading partner by far was China.
Other large trading partners not joining the sanctions regime included Turkey and India. The member countries of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) accounted for about 10 % of Russia’s trade.
According to Putin, the sales of the key Russian goods to the EU grew by 50% in January–September, overall exports by 42%. The official pledged to make economic decisions for 2023 taking into account the tectonic changes in the world. Putin also said that Russia plans to raise gas sales to the Asian states to 88bcm (bcm) by 2030 and to boost production of liquefied natural gas by 70 bcm.
Russia’s foreign trade surplus almost doubled on the year to $269.8bn in January–November thanks to high prices for key exports and a decrease of the cost of imports, the central bank said on December 9.
58 RUSSIA Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com