The foreign trade surplus of Russia increased 30 percent on a year-on-year basis from January to October. The surplus is now USD 136.4 billion, up from USD 105 billion in the first ten months of 2009. Russia’s volume of trade for the first ten months of the year was USD 496.3 billion, according to the Russian Customs Service. The trade turnover figure was 34.7 percent higher on a year-on-year basis. Trade with Russia’s near-abroad neighbors of the Commonwealth of Independent States rose by 26.6 percent to USD 68 billion. Trade with countries outside the C.I.S. was up 36.1 percent for a total of USD 428.3 billion. 

Russia’s exports in the first ten months stood at USD 316.3 billion, a figure 33.6 percent higher than the corresponding statistic for 2009. Exports to countries outside the C.I.S. rose 36.2 percent to end at USD 272.7 billion. Exports to C.I.S. countries also increased by 19.2 percent. Total exports to these C.I.S. states amounted to USD 43.6 billion.

The value of imports supplied to Russia in the first ten months was USD 180 billion, of which USD 155.6 billion came from countries outside the C.I.S. and USD 24.4 billion from within the C.I.S. The growth in imports was up 36.7 percent year-on-year. Foreign imports were up 35.8 percent in relation to the first ten months of 2009, and C.I.S. imports increased 42.6 percent. 

Effective July 1, 2010, the Russian Customs Service is no longer incorporating into its foreign trade breakdown Russia’s import from and export to Kazakhstan. The customs clearance procedure for goods coming from Russia to Kazakhstan and vice versa has now been eliminated. 

The European Union was responsible for roughly 49.5 percent of Russia’s trade turnover in the first ten months. The countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States accounted for 13.7 percent of the trade turnover. The states of the EurAsEC made up 7 percent, and the APEC countries accounted for 23.4 percent. 

According to Russian statistics, the biggest trading partners of Russia exclusive of C.I.S. countries for the first ten months of the year were China, with trade turnover of USD 47.5 billion, the Netherlands, with the same figure of USD 47.5 billion, Germany, with USD 41 billion, Italy, with USD 29.9 billion, Turkey, with USD 20.1 billion, the United States, with USD 19 billion, Japan, with USD 18.3 billion, France, with USD 18.1 billion, and Poland, with USD 16.7 billion.