Bilateral trade between some European countries and Russia is increasing, as the European Union still needs certain goods from Russia, reports the Russian news site, the Lenta News Agency.
Aleksandr Danilcev, director of the Trade Policy Institute of the Higher Education Institute of Economics of the National Research University, explained the trend in the international market. According to Eurostat data, in September 2024, Italy increased its trade with the Russian Federation by a quarter to €768 million, of which €427.1 million were Italian deliveries to Russia’s domestic market.
Trade turnover with Germany was €720 million, while France was €469 million.
In the first autumn month, Hungary reached €451 million and the Netherlands €437 million, placing these two countries among the top EU trading partners for Russia. According to Danilcev, the data on goods traffic has not yet been processed, but the traditional goods traffic includes, among other things, fertilizer, energy and chemical products.
“European companies need such products. Therefore, despite the political problems, the business is going its own way,” Danilcev said.
Just last month, the London School of Economics attacked the EU for its rhetoric around sanctions and Russia and its actual practices, writing:
“The European Union has launched a series of measures to contain Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Yet, the effectiveness and extent of these measures remain in doubt.
The EU has a cumulative merchandise trade deficit with Russia of US$120 billion since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine or 5 percent of Russia’s annual GDP. This net transfer of resources to Russia is in stark contrast to the EU’s rhetoric, which claims that it will ‘remain determined to keep acting to further reduce Russia’s sources of revenue and capacity to wage war,’ The EU’s approach to Russia is self-defeating and risks prolonging the war.”
