The trade turnover between Russia and the United States in 2015 fell 27.9 percent year-on-year, declining to USD21 billion, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexei Likhachev said on April 15, 2016. “Last year was not the most favorable,” he said. According to Likhachev, two principal factors affected the trade turnover between the countries, namely geopolitics and the macroeconomic environment.

Exports of Russian goods to the United States rose 6.3 percent in the first three months of 2016, Deputy Minister Likhachev said.

“The United States is one of the few countries with growing Russian exports in the first quarter of this year, including by dollar value. Compared to last year’s figures, the physical volume of Russian exports to the U.S. surged nearly 25 percent,” Likhachev noted.

The composition of Russian exports to the U.S. has been diversified, the official said. It comprises oil products, aluminum, gems, metals, and chemicals.

“We consider in this sense that the U.S. market is interesting for us. Therefore, we will continue working in this market,” Likhachev said.

The infusion of capital from the United States has also been observed, despite the breakdown in the relationship. “We received USD212 million of investments from the U.S. as of the third quarter of 2015. This is a fairly good result in recent times,” Likhachev said.