In January 2023, Russian exports decreased in annual terms by almost a third - by 28.2 percent.

This follows from the information published on March 15 by the Federal Customs Service of Russia.

According to these data, in the first month of the year, Russia exported goods worth 32.9 billion dollars.

Energy resources remain the main category of exports — they account for 65 percent of the value of exported goods.

Compared to January 2022, energy exports from Russia decreased by more than a quarter.

Food products accounted for 10 percent of the export volume, precious and semi-precious metals, as well as ferrous metallurgy - 4 percent each.

Export of ferrous metals, according to FMS data, also almost halved in January (by 49.9 percent).

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Did it affect Belarusian stores?

The European Union introduced 10 packages of sanctions against Russia

The sanctions were agreed upon in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

121 individuals and legal entities were added to the sanctions list, as well as significant new restrictions on import/export, a ban on Russian propaganda media.

It was reported that political agreements were reached with the G7 partners on the issue of importing diamonds from the Russian Federation.

The countries also decided on "further steps in relation to the nuclear sector" of Russia.

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The US and the G7 joined

On February 24, the anniversary of the start of Russia's war against Ukraine, the United States also extended sanctions against Russia and third countries that support Russia's military actions.

The decision was taken in consultation with the G7 partners.

A total of 200 individuals and legal entities have come under US sanctions.

The list of Russian officials who have been sanctioned by the US includes the Russian Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic,

, a native of Belarus.

He was born in Minsk, his father Oleg Chakunkov was a Belarusian diplomat, in 1998-2001 he held the position of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Vietnam.

The private military company "Redout" was also on the list.

Despite the fact that it is registered in Moscow, the US Treasury believes that it has ties to Belarus (beside the name of the company in the sanctions list, Belarus is also indicated).

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Imports to Russia decreased slightly

At the same time, the import of goods to Russia decreased slightly.

In January, goods worth 22.2 billion dollars were imported into the country - 4.8% less than in January 2022.

The largest items of import are nuclear energy equipment (19 percent), food (14 percent), and industrial equipment (12 percent).

FMS does not publish data on the import of commodity groups "weapons" and "aircraft".

However, based on the difference between the total value of imports and known categories, it can be concluded that in January, Russia imported weapons and aircraft parts worth almost 120 million dollars.

In 2022, despite the war against Ukraine, imports of these categories exceeded 3.3 billion dollars.

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