Page 57 - Russia OUTLOOK 2024

At the same time, the share of settlements in rubles and friendly currencies in 2023 expanded to 65%. "In 2023, the total share of the ruble and the national currencies of friendly countries will be 65% in payments for the export and import of goods and services. For comparison, in 2021 it was only 22%," he said.
According to Belousov, the volume of Russian exports to the markets of friendly countries in 2023 rose by 60% compared to 2021 and reached $360bn.
The Economic Development Ministry expects Russia’s trade surplus to reach RUB145bn (1.5bn) in 2023, which is close to the average annual level in 2020-2021. It should continue rising in the medium term because export growth overshadows the increase of imports, Reshetnikov said.
Russia’s foreign trade surplus dropped more than 2.8-fold in January-September 2023 y/y to $87.8bn, according to preliminary estimates by the Central Bank.
The cargo turnover of Russian seaports will exceed 900mn tonnes by the end of 2023, which will be an absolute record in the entire history of the USSR and Russia, Vitaly Klyuev, head of the department of state policy in the field of maritime and inland water transport of the Transport Ministry, said on December 22. In turn, the deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration for Supporting the Activities of the State Council of the Russian Federation, Alexander Yurchik, noted that in 2023 a steady increase in cargo turnover of all ports was ensured by 7% compared to the previous year. The cargo turnover of Russian seaports in pre-pandemic 2019 was 840.3mn tonnes. In 2022, cargo turnover reached 841.5mn tonnes.
Russian exports to the EU decreased by $70bn in the first half of the year. The largest drop was recorded in the hydrocarbons segment, particularly gas, crude oil and petroleum products, which amounted to about $63bn.
The situation is worse with semi-finished products made of steel and iron. Even though this group is under sanctions, it brought Russia about $1bn in foreign exchange earnings during the six months. It is predicted that exports of this group will total about $2bn by the end of 2023. In 2021, total imports of this category into the EU from the Russian Federation amounted to $3bn.
Noticeable changes are also noted in the volume of exports of rare earth metals, in particular nickel and platinum, where a loss of approximately $1.3bn was observed. With the ban on the import of Russian diamonds in the twelfth package of sanctions, official export statistics indicate a significant drop in the import of this product, with a $900,000mn decrease.
57 Russia OUTLOOK 2024 www.intellinews.com