The Central Bank of Russia officially confirmed that the aggressor country's economy faced a dramatic drop in export revenues at the end of 2024. The main reason is powerful Western sanctions.
Points of attention
- In December, exporters exported goods worth $31.3 billion, which led to a 19% year-on-year decline in revenue.
- The Russian economy has suffered a serious blow due to the fall in export revenues, leading to a sharp reduction in the trade surplus.
New problems for the Russian Federation on the economic front
What is important to understand is that last month, exporters exported goods worth $31.3 billion.
Against this background, their revenue fell by 19% year-on-year.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation reports that of this amount, $25.7 billion left the country to pay for imports.
As a result, the net inflow from foreign trade (trade surplus) shrank to $5.6 billion — the lowest figure in the last 5 years.
According to economists, if we take into account exports and imports of services, the Russian economy earned only $2 billion in trade surplus in December 2024 — in fact, it is negligible.
The reason for the deterioration in foreign trade at the end of the year could be the effect of sanctions imposed at the end of November against the Russian banking sector, which affected payments and, apparently, slowed down export flows.
Biden's latest sanctions blow against Russia turned out to be the most powerful
On January 10, 2025, the administration of former US President Joe Biden officially announced the introduction of the largest ever package of sanctions against the Russian energy sector.
The former White House chief of staff aimed to significantly weaken dictator Vladimir Putin's ability to finance the war against Ukraine by reducing revenues from oil exports.
According to analysts, the new restrictions are truly shocking in their scale and potential effect.
Sanctions have been imposed on more than 400 legal entities and individuals, including key oil and gas giants Gazpromneft and Surgutneftegaz, dozens of oil service companies, shipping giant Sovcomflot and their subsidiaries, as well as insurance companies that service oil transportation.
