Trade turnover between Russia and its second largest trade partner, Germany, increased 8.4 per cent and reached nearly €62 billion in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to the German trade lobby.
Year-on-year imports from Russia to Germany expanded 14.7 per cent, amounting to €36 billion ($40 billion). Export to Russia rose by 0.6 per cent to €25.9 billion, reported the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce, which represents over 800 German firms.
“German business has successfully increased exports to Russia despite the market difficulties, sanctions and counter-sanctions. This has also improved our expectations for 2019,” the chairman of the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce, Matthias Schepp, said in a statement.
The trade turnover between Beijing and Moscow also surged last year by 24.5 per cent to €95.8billion, with €49.7 billion of it amounting to Russian exports to China. This is the first time since 2006 that Russia has had a trade surplus with its Eastern partner.