Russian trade will reach pre-pandemic levels in 2021 – Customs Service

Russia will reach 2019 levels of trade by year’s end, which points to steady economic recovery, the country’s Federal Customs Service said on Wednesday.

“This year, the trade turnover in six months amounted to $340 billion. This is 27% more than last year. We started to import more cars, machinery, plastics, technological products."

“All this indicates that our economy is reviving. We believe that in terms of turnover this year we will reach the level of 2019,” the head of the Federal Customs Service (FCS), Vladimir Bulavin, told Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Bulavin also noted that the FCS transferred a total of 2.96 trillion rubles ($40.01 billion) to the country’s budget in the first half of 2021, which is 28% more than the department had previously forecast.

According to FCS data, imports brought in some 2.031 trillion rubles ($27.4 billion) in customs duties, while payments from exports amounted to about 900 billion rubles ($12.2 billion).

“I would like to note that this is due to the increase in trade turnover,” Bulavin said.

China currently ranks first among Russia’s trade partners, followed by Germany, the Netherlands, Belarus and the United States.

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