The turnover between the European Union (EU) and Russia has significantly reduced with the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022.
EU introduced unprecedented sanctions against Russia, which led to a sharp reduction in the volume of mutual turnover and changed the dynamics for both sides.
Before the conflict, Russia was the fifth largest trading partner of the EU. In 2021, the Russian Federation accounted for 5.8 percent of the general trade in the EU with world states.
In the country structure of Russia’s foreign trade, the European Union in 2021 accounted for 36 percent of Russian trade. At the same time, 36.5 percent of products imported in the Russian Federation were produced in the countries of the European Union, and 37.9 percent of the exports of the Russian Federation carried out the countries of the Commonwealth.
The turnover between the EU and Russia in 2021 amounted to 257.5 billion euros. However, the sanctions imposed against Russia with the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine have led to a sharp reduction in this indicator.
According to EU institutions, in February 2022, when the conflict began, the EU imported goods from Russia in the amount of 21.4 billion euros, and exports to the Russian market amounted to 7.6 billion euros.
However, during 2022, due to the growth in energy prices, especially for natural gas, the European Union transferred large funds for exported products.
In March 2023, the EU imports from Russia reached peak values and amounted to 22.2 billion euros. In September of the same year, the import of Russian products into the European Union decreased to 3.1 billion euros.
Thus, the import of the EU from Russia has declined by 86 percent since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. The import of Russia from the EU decreased to 2.7 billion euros between the conflict.
The total volume of turnover has decreased
If in February 2022 the turnover between the EU and Russia amounted to 29 billion euros, then in February 2023 it amounted to 9.2 billion euros, and in February of this year – 6.2 billion euros.
In September of this year, when the latest data was published, the volume of bilateral trade was estimated at 5.9 billion euros. After such a decrease, the volume of bilateral trade between the EU and Russia was reduced to one fifth compared to the indicators of the period before the start of the conflict.
EU export to Russia decreased by 58 percent, and imports from Russia decreased by 86 percent in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period of 2022.
The high prices that the EU paid for energy, especially in 2021 and 2022, caused a significant trade deficit.
In the second quarter of 2022, the deficit of the EU trading balance with Russia reached a maximum of 46 billion euros.
However, due to the restrictions on imports and falling energy prices in the third quarter of the year, the EU trading deficit with Russia decreased to 600 million euros.
Despite this, the EU did not interrupt the trade with Russia with various products, such as natural gas and LNG, as well as fertilizers and nickels that are necessary for its own economy.