Russia’s foreign trade surplus grew 10.5 percent year-on-year in January-June 2012 to $109.2 billion, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) reported on Tuesday, citing Central Bank data.
“The foreign trade balance remained positive at $109.2 billion compared with $98.8 billion in the first half of 2011,” Rosstat said in a statement.
The Central Bank’s data differed slightly from the Federal Customs Service’s six-month figures, in which Russia’s half-year foreign trade surplus had grown 12 percent year-on-year to $115.9 billion.
The Central Bank’s data suggest imports to Russia grew by 4.1 percent to $154.2 billion in January-June 2012, while exports from Russia rose by 6.7 percent to $263.4 billion, increasing the country’s foreign trade turnover by 5.7 percent to $417.6 billion.
Customs data indicate imports into Russia grew by 3.6 percent to $145.4 billion in January-June 2012, while exports from Russia rose by 7.3 percent to $261.4 billion, increasing the country’s foreign trade turnover by 5.9 percent to $406.8 billion.
Fuel and energy products accounted for 73.4 percent of Russia’s exports to countries other than former Soviet republics in January-June 2012, compared with 73.8 percent in the same period last year.
Fuel and energy exports to former Soviet republics edged up by 1.2 percentage points to 58 percent of overall exports to those countries.