Economist explains why Russia does not benefit from imports from the republic of the former USSR – Svobodnaya Pressa
When one country withdraws from an important relationship, it is logical that another takes its place. To this disaster, a specialist in the research department of Total Research Gleb Finkelsteincommenting on a study prepared by RBC journalists.
Formerly RBC reportedthat the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and some states of the former USSR that are not part of the union in the summer include an increase in exports of goods to Russia. In this case, growth is found not only relative to the spring lows, but also relative to the pre-crisis levels of last year. So, in particular, the state of the EAEU shipped goods to Russia in excess of $9.4 billion in March-June this year, which is 15% more than in the same period of 2021.
However, a specialist in the research department of Total Research believes that there is nothing surprising in the fact that the countries of the former Soviet Union have increased their turnover with the Russian Federation, even if we proceed from the scale of the increase: “De facto for Kyrgyzstan, if we take it as an example, – A twofold increase in turnover with Russia is a very large figure. But in terms of money for Russia, this is quite a bit. So, as it is seen now, trade with the countries of Central Asia will continue to grow.”
At the same time, the economist became an economy, which suggests that supplies from the EAEU or the former USSR country as an alternative to Europe would be wrong: “This is a banal balance import, and nothing more. Plus additional channels for the sale of products manufactured in Russia – from gas to timber. That is, these countries have not become an alternative in the global sense – it’s just through them that the increased volumes of trade of those European states with our own country currently occur, and they, in the past, became a “gasket”.
Svobodnaya Pressa asked the expert how the financial component could be assessed – whether it would be a gain given Russia’s new logistics, and to what extent the business is beneficial to the countries of the former Soviet Union.
“When a product that six months – a year ago could be bought for one price, and now it is 20-30% more, this is not a profit, but a lot of excess consumption. Russia and companies needed goods from Europe. And for the countries of the former USSR, this is only a plus: due to their intermediary services and conditional transit, they receive additional profit. Here everything plays against Russia: there are no alternatives to some goods from accessories, logistics prices have increased, additional costs on the side of the transaction have increased. That is, it plays either a decrease in marginality or an increase in the cost of the final product,” added Gleb Finkelstein.