MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s foreign trade surplus fell 10.5 percent year-on-year in January-June 2013, the Federal Customs Service said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The foreign trade balance was positive at $103.3 billion, $12.1 billion less than in January-June 2012,” the statement said.
Russia’s foreign trade surplus with CIS countries, a loose association including many former Soviet republics but not the Baltic States or Georgia, fell $4.6 billion to $12.8 billion, with the same indicator for non-CIS countries falling by $7.4 billion to $90.5 billion.
In the first half of 2013, Russia’s exports fell by 2.7 percent to $253.9 billion and imports rose 3.4 percent to $150.7 billion.
Non-CIS countries accounted for 86.9 percent of Russia’s exports and 86.5 percent of its imports, and CIS states accounted for 13.1 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively.
Russian exports to non-CIS countries in the fuel and energy sector increased slightly from 73.4 percent in the same period last year to 74.9 percent in January-June 2013.
Over the same period, however, Russian fuel and energy exports to CIS countries contracted, accounting for 47.4 percent of total exports to the region compared to 57.0 the previous year.
January-June 2013, Russia’s crude oil exports to non-CIS countries fell 2.9 percent year-on-year while oil exports to CIS states edged up 0.4 percent.
The European Union remained Russia’s largest economic partner, accounting for 50.1 percent of the country’s commodity turnover in the first six months of 2013.
Russia’s major foreign trade partners in this period were China, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Japan, Turkey, Poland, the United States, France and South Korea.
