Russia records significant difference between exports, imports

For the period from January to September of this year, the positive foreign trade balance - that is, the difference between exports and imports - amounted to a significant $251 billion. The corresponding assessments were given by the first deputy head of the Federal Customs Service (FCS) Ruslan Davydov, Interfax reports.

Import volumes are estimated at $180 billion, exports - at $431 billion. A year earlier, the foreign trade balance was recorded at the level of $130.3 billion - the trade surplus, thus, almost doubled.

Davydov explained that for the nine months, the imports fell by about 15-16 per cent, both in value and in weight. Exports in physical terms decreased, but in terms of value they increased, "for obvious reasons" - due to the rise in energy prices, the deputy head of the Federal Customs Service said.