If the government of the Russian Federation does not take measures to diversify the economy than, having lost its positions in the field of mineral products, the whole country will sink

The main import goods of the Russian Federation:

• food and agricultural raw materials (other than textile);

• mineral products;

• chemicals, rubber;

• raw leather, fur and articles thereof;

• pulp, paper and wood products;

• textiles, textile products and footwear;

• metals, gems and articles thereof;

• machinery, equipment and vehicles.

The pictures 3 and 4 represent the structure of Russia’s import. There is no such “domination” of one of the elements as we can clearly see in the structure of export but almost half of Russia's export in 2010 and 2011 were machinery, equipment and vehicles - 44.5% and 48% respectively.

Two more elements cover more than 10% of total import. These are food and agricultural products (except textile) (15.9% and 13.9% in 2010 and 2011 respectively) and chemicals and rubber (16.3% and 14.9% in 2010 and 2011, respectively).

Picture 5. The Structure of the Russian Federation’s Import in 2010 [1]

Picture 6. The Structure of the Russian Federation’s Import in 2011 [1]

The key partner countries of the Russian Federation in 2010 were China, Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Ukraine. The statistics of trade with these countries are presented in table 1.

Table 1

International trade of the Russian Federation with its key partner countries in 2010 ($ million) [4]

The full list of the key partner countries of Russia, their parts in Russia’s export and import and their ranks according to the turnover rate is presented in the table 2.

Table 2

The division of the Russian Federation’s import and export among the key partner countries (percentage of total) [4]

Conclusion

Having analyzed the international trade of the Russian Federation, we can conclude that the economy of this country is developing steadily. Indicators of the foreign trade have been growing constantly since 2002 except for the period of the global economic crisis.

During the entire period since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the trade surplus can be observed in Russia. The country is a strong exporter and is a leader of this activity in many industries. The forecasts for the development of the international trade are quite optimistic.

However, it is important to remember that foreign trade is not the only indicator of development. Despite its rapid development, Russia’s standard of living, social standard and cultural level keep deteriorating inexorably. Also the political situation in the country is critical which is not conducive to the development of high-quality investment climate.

These and other factors do not allow Russian economy to operate at full power.

List of references

1. Федеральна служба державної статистики Російської Федерації / Офіційна статистика / Зовнішня торгівля [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу:http://www.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_main/rosstat/ru/statistics/ftrade/index.html# (Дата звернення: 28.04.2013).

2. Центральний банк Російської Федерації / Зовнішня торгівля Російської Федерації товарами [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу: http://www.cbr.ru/statistics/print.aspx?file=credit_statistics/trade.htm&pid=svs&sid=vt (Дата звернення: 28.04.2013).

3. Динамика торгового оборота России стремится в мировые лидеры [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу: http://finliga.com/news/693.html (Дата звернення: 28.04.2013).

4. Торговля в России. 2011: Стат. сб./ Росстат. - Т60 M., 2011. 519 с. [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу: http://www.gks.ru/bgd/regl/b11_58/Main.htm (Дата звернення 28.04.2013).