Customs Agency: Russia achieves trade surplus of 300 billion euros

Thanks to high oil prices, Russia achieved a trade surplus of 332.

Customs Agency: Russia achieves trade surplus of 300 billion euros

Thanks to high oil prices, Russia achieved a trade surplus of 332.4 billion dollars (a good 311 billion euros) last year. The export volume rose by 19.9 percent to $591.5 billion, while imports fell by 11.7 percent to $259.1 billion in the same period, the customs authority said on Monday. Compared to 2021, Russia's trade surplus has grown by 68 percent.

The main reason for the development was the oil price. Despite its war against Ukraine, Russia was able to increase revenues from the sale of crude oil and oil products by 42 percent in 2022. At the same time, sanctions imposed on Russia for its war of aggression against Ukraine restricted imports. Because of the sanctions, Moscow only partially publishes its statistics. The publication of the figures by customs is apparently intended to show how well the country is dealing with it.

However, a continuation of the trend this year is not to be expected. At the end of the year, the western industrial nations imposed a price cap on Russian oil and later also on oil products in order to restrict Moscow's income from financing the war. The price brake has already made itself felt in the first two months. In the meantime, imports have almost reached the pre-war level again - also due to the gray import of goods via third countries.

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