Russia expects almost US$30 billion drop in import by end of year due to issues with payments

The Russian government has admitted to an almost US$30 billion drop due to problems with payments.

Source: The Moscow Times with reference to the forecast by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia

Details: According to the results of 2024, the volume of imports in Russia is expected to be US$29.2 billion lower than initially planned.

Russian companies faced large-scale refusals of banks to conduct payments in Türkiye, China, in the Middle East and in former Soviet countries, which affected the import of goods into Russia.

By the end of 2024 the total amount of goods valued at US$294.9 billion will be imported to Russia instead of US$324.1 billion, as forecasted in April. As a result, instead of an increase in imports by US$21.2 billion compared with 2023, the Russian economy will face an US$8 billion drop.

At the same time, import assessments for 2025-27 decreased: the amount of deliveries to Russia from abroad will be US$66.3 billion lower than initially planned.

Background:

• Russian importers faced a new problem while transferring payments to China: the banks which provided the opportunity to transfer funds to Chinese credit institutions started demanding written guarantees that the money would be accepted.
• Chinese exporters stopped the supply of products to Russia without a prepayment.
• Trade turnover between Russia and South Korea plummeted by a third in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023 due to sanctions.

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